Charlotte Dobson's four-year campaign for 2012 Olympic Games selection in the Laser Radial reached the end of the line yesterday when it was confirmed that Alison Young, her friend and rival, had won the Team GB selection for the women's single-handed class.
With 12 weeks left until the Olympic regatta off Weymouth & Portland, the selection panel announced yesterday that Young will race for Britain in the Radial and that Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes, the 2008 Beijing Olympians, had done enough to be chosen for a second time in the 49er skiff class. Their selection completes the Team GB sailing line-up.
The recent Olympic regatta at Hyeres in France proved crucial. Young not only proved she has the measure of the Scottish helm but that she is probably the fastest Radial sailor in the world in breezy conditions. While Dobson fought a rearguard action to contain Young in the medal race at the French Olympic Week, she finished in ninth place overall to the English sailor's fourth.
"Charlotte has put up a great challenge and I really am gutted for her that she has not made it," said Young. "She was so close to edging it."
Stephen Park, Skandia Team GBR's Olympic manager, said: "Both girls really raised their game in recent months and it is a tribute to them both that they have proven themselves to be capable of consistently delivering results in the top-six in the world. It was just a question of who comes out on top.
"I really hope Charlotte will stick at it and go forwards to 2016. This long, tough Olympic trial process has ensured that she has done all the hard work to reach this level and, ultimately, it's been down to who is on top now.
"In Hyeres, they were evenly matched until the breeze picked up and then, for us, Ali proved that she is probably the quickest in the world in a particular set of conditions which, ultimately, Charlotte did not have in any other conditions.
"Without a doubt they have both raised each other's game and we can be grateful for that. They would not have reached this level without each other and we hope Charlotte will continue to play a part in the process."
"The experience she has gained will be invaluable, and let's not forget that Shirley Robertson did not just rock up and be selected and win a medal at her first Olympics.
"Without doubt, the Laser Radial is much more competitive and at a higher level than those days."
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