Belcher and Ryan take gold
Australian duo crowned World Champions at the ISAF Sailing Championships event in Santander, SpainAussies Mat Belcher and Will Ryan have won the 470 World Championship and cemented their position in the 2016 Olympic games in Rio
Celebrating his 32nd Birthday today, Belcher gave himself one of his most memorable presents by becoming the only sailor in 470 history to win five successive World Championship titles.
"It is really cool. Amazing. Now I can really celebrate," said Belcher. "It is a shame my wife and son can't be here, but I will see them tomorrow. It is so cool and I didn't think we would be in this position.
"It says a bit about our personality too, that we went through that winning streak of two years and to keep focused on what we are doing. It doesn't really bother us or distract us. We are really just enjoying what we are doing and racing our competitors and having fun and that is the main thing to keep winning and keep performing.
"It has been so up and down here. We are really happy with how we have performed and it is nice to come away on top," said Belcher.
On their Facebook page, the pair thanked their coach and supporters: "Thank you to coach Victor and everyone who has helped and supported along the way! We are extremely happy with how we have raced these past days, and very proud to qualify Australia for the Olympics and to win this title for the second time together and Mat's fifth!"
Meanwhile, the London 2012 Gold medallists, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen (AUS) took the bronze medal in the 49er class.
On Thursday (September 18) Tom Burton claimed Australia's first medal of the ISAF Sailing World Championships – a silver in the Laser class.
Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin won the first World Championship medal for Australia in the Nacra17, which will be new on the 2016 Olympic program, adding another bronze to the Australian medal tally.
As an Olympic Qualification event World Championships, Australia also secured a spot at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in six of the ten sailing events, including the 470M, Laser, 49er, 49er FX, Nacra 17 and Finn classes.
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