When she came up the jetty, it was the first time in a fortnight that Shirley Robertson did not have to wheel her own boat up.
Olympic champions get assistance.
Robertson, by her own admission so often the bridesmaid in the Europe class sailing, was ducked in the harbour as winning sailors are, and had her first interview no more than a foot from the waterside. She was, by a margin of two points, the Olympic champion, and could instantly celebrate the fact. Shortly afterwards, Ben Ainslie left the water and waited. He would not be confirmed as the champion of the Laser class for more than three agonising hours, until the last of numerous protests over his acrimonious series finale had been considered. He did to the reigning champion, Robert Scheidt, what Scheidt had done to him on the ocean course at Savannah in 1996.