By Alexander Smith
MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) -Australia's reigning Olympic champion Matt Wearn grabbed gold in the men's dinghy on Wednesday, holding off his nearest rival Pavlos Kontides of Cyprus, who picked up his second silver.
At the end of a thrilling tactical medal race, which saw big fleet changes in shifting wind conditions, Stefano Peschiera brought home bronze for Peru, after a 32-year medal wait.
Wearn and Kontides, who won his silver in 2012, embraced at the end of an emotionally exhausting race, after an earlier attempt was abandoned in its dying stages.
"Luckily it (the wind) filled back in and we didn't have to wait for another day," said Wearn, who admitted feeling the pressure going into the Games as defending champion.
"There wasn't many people out there who didn't want to beat me and I sort of had that target on my back," he said.
"It's pretty enticing. The body's feeling great, the best it's ever felt I think," the 28-year-old said when asked if he would try again in 2028, adding that he would wait for the dust to settle and see what opportunities were on offer.
Wearn complimented Kontides, 34, as a great competitor.
"Give him and inch and he'll take it for a mile".
Kontides said winning a second silver was "an amazing feeling" and there were tears of joy before celebrations and thanks to his wife, young son, family and supporters.
"I'm over the moon. Second Olympic medal for my country and it came from myself," said a bearded Kontides, smiling.
For Peschiera, bronze meant the end of a long wait for Peru.
"It's the first medal in 32 years, so it means a lot. It's been the only medal of this Games ... falling short of a medal would have been a disaster for us," Peschiera said, adding that he had never cried as much as when his medal was confirmed.
Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands earlier became the most successful female Olympic sailor ever with gold in the women's dinghy, ahead of Denmark's Anne-Marie Rindom with silver and Norway's Line Flem Hoest taking bronze.
"It's nice to finally finish it off, it hasn't sunk in yet," said Bouwmeester, who previously won gold in 2016, silver in 2012 and bronze in Tokyo, and has now overtaken the Olympic record set by Britain's Hannah Mills.
Although Norway's Hoest came in second, it was enough to win bronze on points. Hoest wept with joy as she neared the line and pumped her fist before throwing herself into the water.
Bouwmeester said afterwards that she injured her foot during the celebrations and is going to have it checked out.
The medal trio had all climbed aboard Bouwmeester's boat and leapt together into the sea, bobbing in their life jackets
(Reporting by Alexander Smith; Editing by Ken Ferris, Toby Davis and Bill Berkrot)
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