Olympic berths secured

SAILING

Only two broken legs and a sinking could have stopped John Merricks and Ian Walker, world No 1s for almost a year, from clinching their place in the 470 dinghy at next year's Olympics, writes Mike Turner. Following the Brut Olympic Trial in Weymouth this

week, they will be joined in Atlanta by Bethan Raggatt and Sue Carr in the 470 women, Shirley Robertson and Penny Way in the Europe and Mistral windsurfer, and Richard Stenhousein the Finn. The battle for the Soling place was being slugged out in a best-of-seven-match race final between Andy Beadsworth and Eddie Warden Owen while the men's windsurfers had two more races to decide between Barrie Edgington and Howard Plumb. The Tornado catamaran place should go to David Williams and Ian Rhodes, and Ben Ainslie, the 18-year old who won gold at last month's World Youth Championships in Bermuda, had his nose in front in the Laser class.