BBC Sport: Olympics blog

A gold medal was sweet reward for Sheffield's Paul Goodison after being so disappointed with fourth place in Athens he nearly quit the sport.

But he had to display the most ruthless of tactics to make sure of it.

Four years ago, Goodison saw his medal chance slip through his fingers like a runaway anchor chain in the final minutes of the final race.

The 30-year-old had only needed to finish in the top 19 and ahead of Slovenia's Vasilij Zbogar - and though he came in 17th, Zbogar finished four places ahead of him to claim the bronze.

"He went into it hoping for gold and came out of it with nothing. Paul admitted afterwards it was pretty hard for him to get going again," said BBC sailing commentator Richard Simmonds.

This time around Goodison took no chances as he chose to force his main rival Rasmus Myrgren into last place and out of the medals.

Goodison only needed to finish ahead of Myrgren to guarantee gold - and chose to ram home his advantage in the most clinical fashion.

Ironically, Zbogar was chief beneficiary of his tactics, claiming silver, and he thanked Goodison by jokingly dunking him in the water as the boats arrived back at the marina.

By contrast, the Swede was fuming.

"I feel really sorry for Rasmus and I wish it didn't have to happen to him," said Goodison. "But I just had to do what I had to do."

But Simmonds says Goodison's tactics were entirely above board and many match-race sailors would have done exactly the same thing.

"It was pretty ruthless - but what do you do?" he said. "If he'd been a nice bloke he probably would still have won gold - but he might not have done. Let's say the wind had got up and he'd broken his mast and finished last and Myrgren won it - he would have missed the gold. This way, he made 100% sure."

In the Olympics, the boats sail 10 races - with the final race counting double (2 points for win, four for second, six for third etc).

The sailor on the lowest score at the end takes gold. So the medals are often decided by where the sailors finish in relation to their rivals, than in the race itself.
"There are rules, but basically it is entirely legitimate to sail your boat in front of the guy, to block him completely. It's not about how well you do, just about herding the other guy around the course."

It is a tactic Ben Ainslie employed to win gold from Robert Scheidt in Sydney in 2000, where Goodison was a reserve for the Laser and understudied him.

Indeed, Goodison cites Ainslie as the most influential person in his career.

"We trained together before Sydney and I experienced close up what it takes to win gold," Goodison has said.

Going into the Games, Goodison was one of only two sailors in the world to be unbeaten at the Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao after winning gold at both the 2006 and 2007 Test events. (The other was Ainslie)

Indeed, Goodison has been a big name in sailing for years, having won the European Championship in the Laser class for four years on the bounce. But he will now transcend the sport.

"If sailing is your passion you will have heard of Paul Goodison. But now he will get that recognition outside the sport, that stamp of international sporting pedigree," says Simmonds.

"It's a bit like when a band has a surprise No. 1 hit and you think they've come from nowhere, only it turns out they've been playing all the clubs up and down the country for years. Well, Paul Goodison has been playing the clubs for years.

"In this sport there are only one or two sailors who have raised themselves above the parapet and become names outside of just sailing - Ben Ainslie and Ellen MacArthur.

"But that's what the Olympics can do. There are world championships in so many sailing classes every year. But there are only 11 sailing gold medals and they are only awarded every four years."

Simmonds says more doors will now open up to Goodison as a result of his gold.

"The owners of big yachts sit up and take notice - it gives you more options.

"When you have won Olympic gold you are more attractive to sponsors. He is sponsored by Volvo, who have been pretty shrewd to back him, but he will now be able to choose where he goes."

Some sailors move from the Olympic discipline into round-the-world racing, or America's Cup.

But Simmonds thinks the lure of 2012 will prove enough for Goodison to remain focused on Olympic classes.
"You could see the grin on his face when it was mentioned," he said.

The mood in the British sailing camp is now extremely buoyant as they join the cyclists and rowers in topping their sport's medal table. It was evident in the way his team-mates carried Goodison - dinghy and all - aloft from the water.

"Last week it was looking very good for Ben Ainslie and the Yngling girls - with huge potential, but only potential, elsewhere. Now the team is getting up a real head of steam," he said.

"You have to remember that this is a very frightening place to sail. It is so unpredictable - there are a lot of people who have been caught off-balance, world champions who were expecting to be on the podium who have finished way down the field.

"Britain came here as favourites, which is a difficult tag to live up to as the only way is down but they are starting to justify it and now have built up a momentum which they can hopefully take into the remaining classes."

Britain still have chances in three of the remaining four classes - men's and women's windsurfing and Star.