London welcomes a champ

Olympic yachtsman Ben Ainslie sailed under London’s Tower Bridge to celebrate his third gold medal in the Finn class.

Ben helmed the JP Morgan Extreme 40 catamaran, tacking upstream close to the river fringes, up to the bridge where the central spans were lifted to mark his latest achievement in Beijing.

Only Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent stand above Ben’s Olympics sailing achievements, Redgrave with five golds and Pinsent with four.

Ben said “In some ways this was the best gold medal because there was so much expectation coming into the event and conditions were so difficult. You have so much external and personal expectation that when you finish there is a huge sense of relief”.