Oympic Sailor Battles Back Pain

Reigning Laser gold medallist Paul Goodison showed real grit today to overcome debilitating back pain and claw himself up to sixth in the standings.

The 34-year-old from Weymouth picked up the injury in just the second race of the London 2012 regatta, leading to some unusually poor finishes.

Goodison did manage a second in yesterday's last race but came off the water in tears, admitting his regatta was in jeopardy.

However, the Yorkshireman responded well to treatment overnight and lined up with the rest of the fleet in Weymouth Bay this afternoon.

Goodison performed excellently in the first race and finished fourth, before later picking up a ninth to leave him sixth in the overall standings ahead of tomorrow's rest day.

The sailor's courageous performance capped a great day for the British sailing team, who saw Stevie Morrison and Southampton-born Ben Rhodes move to overall fifth in the 49er standings.

The Exmouth duo posted a fourth and second in Portland Harbour, although Australia's Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen continued to lead the way after a second and a first today.

Weymouth's Nick Dempsey moved up to third overall in the men's RS:X standings after following a fifth in his first race with a 'bullet' - sailing terminology for a victory.

The windsurfer got the better of Greece's Byron Kokalanis on a photo-finish victory, although a close finish went the other way for another Brit.

Ali Young ended second, just behind Belgium's Evi Van Acker, in the first Laser Radial race, before going on to post an 11th place finish in race six.

That result, though, is automatically discarded as it is her worst of the regatta so far, meaning she is fourth overall heading into tomorrow's rest day.

Elsewhere, Beijing bronze medallist Bryony Shaw lies sixth in the women's RS:X standings after a fourth and ninth today.

The day was rounded off by the Lucy Macgregor-skippered women's match racing team - who're all from Poole - who could not follow up victories yesterday with similar success as they lost to New Zealand and then Russia in the round robin stage.