Ben Ainslie’s Place In History Secured

Ben Ainslie admitted it had been ‘the hardest two weeks of my life’ after he became the greatest sailing Olympian of all time today (Sunday 5 August).

Ainslie claimed his fourth Olympic gold medal – his fifth medal in total – to eclipse Paul Elvstrom’s (DEN) previous best of four golds won between 1948 and 1960.

The triumphant 35-year-old did what he needed to do in today’s double points’ medal race by finishing one place ahead of Jonas Hogh-Christensen (DEN), who had led the regatta from day one.

After a nail-biting final run to the line, in shifting, tricky breeze on the spectator Nothe course, an emotional Ainslie, who was the first Olympic torch bearer on UK soil, crossed the line to tumultuous jubilation from the phenomenal gathered crowd.

Ainslie said: “That was one of the scariest races I have ever had to go through. The wind was all over the place making it very, very difficult. I stuck to it and did the job. It’s just an amazing feeling. It’s unbelievable.

“It’s been a really tough week. After six races I was in a bit of trouble. I thankfully turned it around and got it right when it counts. I don’t want to go through anything like that again in my life.

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“It’s been incredibly hard, there’s been huge pressure for people to perform at a home Games. It’s been the hardest couple of weeks of my life and I haven’t slept much the past couple of days.

“The support out on the Nothe was amazing. We have never seen that in Olympic sailing so it was just fantastic. I can’t thank everyone enough who has helped me over the years to get to this point; my family, sponsors, the people watching.

“Everyone in our team, from the coaches to the support staff, the other team members and sailors, they are a fantastic team who have helped me get to this point.”

Ainslie won the first of his history-making medal haul – a Laser class silver – as a wide-eyed 19-year-old at Atlanta 1996. He then won three consecutive golds at Sydney 2000 (Laser), Athens 2004 (Finn) and Beijing 2008 (Finn).

In claiming gold Ben also matched the record for most Olympic sailing medals won in total, held by Torben Grael (BRA), who won gold in 1996 and 2004, silver in 1984 and bronze in 1988 and 2000.

The six-time Finn World Champion went in to today’s double points medal race two points behind Hogh-Christensen knowing that to win that gold he had to beat the Dane.

There had been widespread speculation that Ainslie may once again employ the match racing tactics that he used so effectively to win in Sydney and Beijing.

But Ainslie first of all seemed to shy away from getting caught out in a one-on-one with the Dane with both sailors choosing opposite side of the course up the first leg. With the wind dropping it looked like Ainslie decided to keep a closer eye on Hogh-Christensen with the pair sitting in ninth and 10th position.

The only threat to Ainslie’s title defence at this stage – the Dutch sailor Pieter-Jan Postma – rounded the fourth mark comfortably off the pace in sixth. But a massive gain for Postma on the final upwind leg suddenly had everyone biting their nails.

Postma moved ominously up the fleet into third while Ainslie remained in ninth. But all eyes were firmly on whether the Dutchman was going to be able to creep one place further up the fleet, which would have handed HIM the gold medal.

Fortunately for Ainslie, and the thousands of nervous spectators on the Nothe, Postma lost out in a tussle with the Kiwi Dan Slater and dropped back to fifth, handing Ainslie his place in Olympic history.

Ainslie’s medal was Britain’s second of the day, Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson having won silver in the Star class an hour earlier.

The Olympic Sailing Regatta runs from Sunday 29 July – Saturday 11 August.

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Twitterati #Fashion Recap: Pink is Easy, Breezy, Beautiful, Kanye West Headed …

This week on #Twitterati, Nina Garcia is clearly confused about how much money the average American makes, Alexa Chung brings her fashionable ways to Gossip Girl, and CoverGirl goes bold with its latest face. Want more? Including which rapper might be headed back to Paris Fashion Week? Then keep reading this week’s most happening fashion moments, events, and quotes, according to Twitter’s fashion elite.

Kanye West to Show Collection During Paris Fashion Week 2013?

Guess what, fashion tweeps? “Kanye West is Giving His Womenswear Line Yet Another Shot This Season.” (StyleCaster). Surprised? I didn’t really think so. West, who is as known for his Twitter rants and fashion extravaganza just as much as he is for his music and his relationship with Kim Kardashian, has had quite the tumultuous relationship with the fashion industry since the debut of his line. While several fashion critics have panned his talent as a designer, several celebs have more than embraced Kanye’s fashion prowess.

Image via Lala Instagram

Reality TV star La La Anthony recently took to Instagram to show off a Kanye West orignal. La La tweeted, “Filming today in London rocking my @kanyewest sweater from his collection! I LOVE!” Any guesses as to who else loves Kanye’s fashion sense? His #Kimye better half immediately retweeted LaLa’s tweet while replying, “LOVE!!! RT.” Now that’s what you call love. 

 

Nina Garcia Thinks Everyone Can Afford a Birkin After Working a Few Weeks

“So how much of an investment does Nina Garcia consider a $74,000 Birkin bag to be? Oh, just a few weeks’ salary.” (Fashionista.com). The Project Runway judge and Marie Claire editor recently took to Twitter to express her skewed views on budgeting. Garcia who tweeted, “This is the bag you can spend a few weeks’ salary on and not feel guilty,” (The Cut) was quickly blasted by her legions of followers and fellow fashion bloggers who reminded Garcia that the average American salary is merely below $25K while the average Hermes Birkin “ranges between $14,500 and $74,500.” (StyleCaster). Now that’s what you call a major Twitter faux pas.

Image via Andres Otero/ WENN.com 

 

 

Fashion “It” Girl Alexa Chung is Headed to the Upper East Side

“Hey, Upper East Siders, Alexa Chung will appear on Gossip Girl in season six!” (Fashionologie).  While last season’s storylines have ventured into total soap-opera mode (Blair Waldorf turning to Jesus to resuscitate Chuck Bass? Anyone?), the show’s ability to nab fashion’s biggest names as guest stars shows no signs of waning any time soon. For the show’s 6th and final season, The Fashion Spot  tweeted, “Alexa Chung to cameo on #GossipGirl.” Excited much? Fashionista.com added, “It’s like a dream come true: Alexa Chung is going to be on Gossip Girl!!”  While it has been speculated that Chung is set to have a fashion storyline with Blair Waldorf (total stretch right?), I was kind of hoping to see her get it on with the show’s anti-fashionista, “Lonely Boy” Dan Humphrey. Now that’s a hipster couple you can route for. 

 

Cover Girl Targets Edgier Market with Pink 

From country bumpkin Taylor Swift to the sometimes bad ass/rock star/pop tart Pink, CoverGirl made a complete 180 in choosing the latest face for its campaign. The colorful singer tweeted a sneak peek of her shoot exclaiming, “Guess who’s the new COVERGIRL!!!!!!!!!!!” CoverGirl funny woman, Ellen DeGeneres, welcomed the singer by tweeting, “Welcome to the fold, @Pink! Being a Covergirl isn’t just easy. It’s also breezy, and beautiful.” The makeup label tweeted the major announcement exclaiming, “Fearless, fun makeup looks + risk-taking rockstar = new COVERGIRL@Pink. #perfection.”

So what do you think about CoverGirl’s bolder direction? Excited? Inspired? Underwhelmed? Or don’t really care? Either way, make sure to tweet away your responses. 

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