Goodison keeping steady hand on the tiller

WHEN you are a ‘single-handed’ sailor it also pays to be single-minded. You check the charts, set a course and damn the consequences.

Paul Goodison was all-conquering in the build-up to the Beijing Olympics, arriving in breezy Qingdao as one of Britain’s medal bankers.

But defending your title is never easy. As a boy, Goodison idolised Daley Thompson, who claims winning his second Olympic decathlon title in 1984 was 10 times harder than his first, four years previously in Moscow. Then you add pressure of home water advantage at London 2012 – plus a talented crop of up-and-coming British sailors in the Rotherham sailor’s competitive Laser class – and the difficult task ahead is only compounded.

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But Goodison, 34, remains steady on the tiller and is refusing to panic after experiencing choppy waters last year.

He failed to win a sixth consecutive European title, lost to Australian rival Tom Slingsby at the ISAF World Cup, held at the London 2012 venue in Weymouth, and finished a distant ninth when defending his world title on the Solent.

British team-mate Nick Thompson has also been banking some impressive results, with selectors only able to choose one home sailor for next year’s Olympic regatta.

“Every time I compete I expect to win but last year was about keeping things ticking over and keeping focused on next year,” said Goodison.

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“An Olympic campaign is a four-year thing – you have to start planning as soon as one Games finishes and I’m still happy with where I am.

“This year’s Sail for Gold in Weymouth regatta is a big aim for 2011. If I can perform well then I will be taking real momentum into the pre-Olympic campaign.

“There is also an official test event in August and that will be massive. Everything is being trailed for the Olympics and it will feel almost like the Games themselves.

“There will be all the big names and lots of pressures, that’s where I perform at my best.”

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Join fellow Europeans at the London 2012 ‘one year to go’ celebrations at St Pancras International courtesy of Eurostar. View competition details at www.eurostar.com/london2012. Eurostar is the Official International Rail Services Provider to the Games, and also the British, French and Belgian Olympic teams.

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