Frenchwoman Leroy secures Olympics spot in sailing

Frenchwoman Claire Leroy booked her spot at next year’s London Olympics on the seventh day of the ISAF World Sailing Championships in Western Australia on Friday.The 31-year-old and her crew, Elodie Bertrand and Marie Riou, were one of three boats to win 10 of their 13 races in the first stage of women’s match racing in Group B, but topped the table on a countback.Ranked second in the world, Leroy also advanced to the quarter-finals of the regatta, despite losing two of her last three races.With only the top two teams earning Olympic qualification, the Netherlands’ Mandy Mulder, ranked 18th in the world, finished second, also on countback, ahead of Great Britain’s world number three Lucy Macgregor.Macgregor will need to earn her spot at the Olympics through the repechage, which begins on Saturday. In the men’s 470, Australia pair Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page, who won gold in the same event at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, continued their exceptional form by easily winning both races on Friday to edge further ahead.The Australians are 12 points ahead of Great Britain’s Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell, with just three races left and the gold medal decided on Sunday. Great Britain’s Ben Ainslie showed he was on track to defend his Olympic title in Beijing as he claimed the lead in the men’s Finn, which also finishes on Sunday. Ainslie, aiming for a fourth Olympic gold in London but ranked 31st in the world due to a lack of recent racing, finished first and second in Friday’s races to assume top spot.