Tokyo 2020: Team GB sailors Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre win 470 gold

Team GB’s Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre have won a sailing gold in the women’s 470 class.

Mills entered the history books as GB’s most successful female Olympic sailor, while McIntyre followed in the footsteps of her father Mike, who won gold in the Star class at Seoul 1988.

The GB sailors dominated the regatta, winning two races and recording a further six top four finishes to take a 14-point lead into the medal race.

It was enough to ensure they only needed to finish in the top seven, and they sat in second for much of the medal race behind race winners Switzerland.

They slipped down into fifth after the third mark, remaining in that position as they crossed the finish line. Their earlier performances were enough to hold off silver medallists Agnieszka Skrzypulec (of Poland) and bronze medallists Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz (of France).

Mills and McIntyre faced a wait for the confirmation of the medal after France lodged a complaint, which was swiftly dismissed by a jury.

After this win, Mills has become Britain’s most successful female Olympic sailor ever, adding to her Rio 2016 gold and London 2012 silver.

GB have now won five sailing medals at the Tokyo Games, three of which are gold. The five medals is the country’s second best Olympic tally after Beijing in 2008, when they won six sailing medals, including four golds.