Swedes beat Britain to win Star class Olympic gold

Fredrik Loof and Max Salminen of Sweden have upset defending champions Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson of Britain to win the gold medal in the venerable Star class, making them the first champions of the London Olympics sailing regatta.

Sailing in front of thousands of partisan fans watching from the Nothe Fort and Weymouth waterfront on a sunny Sunday, the British crew lost the gold in the last 200 meters on the difficult Nothe Course.

While the Swedish crew won the race, the British crew fell to eighth to take the silver. They needed to finish sixth or better to win gold.

Brazil's Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada took the bronze.

Percy was trying for his third Olympic gold medal.