France tried to strip Team GB of sailing gold after lodging furious complaint

France launched a furious protest over Team GB’s gold medal in the women’s 470 sailing. Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre took gold on Wednesday morning. 

Mills and McIntyre made history on Wednesday morning by taking home gold in the women’s 470. 

A heroic race saw them finish in fifth place, but that was enough for gold due to France finishing behind them. 

The pair jumped into the water at the Enoshima Yacht Harbour after the conclusion of the race, but the celebrations didn’t last too long.

Just shortly after the conclusion of the race, an enraged French team lodged an official protest over the result.

The French team was said to be unhappy with the fact Team GB allowed Poland to pass them late in the race.

Poland passed Mills and McIntyre in the closing stages of the race into fourth spot, a move which saw them leapfrog France into the silver medal spot.

France are alleged to have believed the two teams contrived to keep them out of the silver medal spot, and lodged an official protest as a result.

That protest was quickly dismissed, however, allowing Mills and McIntyre to resume their joyful celebrations. 

The gold medal was Mills’ second of her career, and her third Olympic medal overall.

With the win, she became Team GB’s most successful female sailor of all time. 

Saskia Clark, MBE, who was Mills’ team-mate at both London 2012 and Rio 2016, dismissed France’s appeal as “opportunistic”.

Speaking to the BBC, she claimed the French team were “Throwing mud” and trying anything to get their silver medal back.

source: express.co.uk