XXVIII Olympic Games in Athens, Greece-Julie in 13th position after day one |17 August 2004

Aiming for a top-15 finish overall, three-time Olympian Julie, Seychelles team’s flag-bearer in Friday’s (August 13) official opening ceremony at the Athens Olympic Stadium, had accumulated 31 points after his first two races.

In race number one won by Portuguese Gustavo Lima, Julie improved from 22nd place after the first mark to 14th after the third. He held this position until the finish line.

American Mark Mendelblatt was second while Brazilian Robert Scheidt, a seven-time world champion who is trying to double his Olympic gold medal tally, finished third.

Julie then took 17th place in race number two less than hour later as northerly winds blew at a speed of 16 knots.

Austrian Andreas Geritzer, fourth in the first race, won the second in front of Australian Michael Blackburn (18th in race one) and British sailor Paul Goodison (13th in race one).
With five points, Austrian Geritzer led the laser class after the first day.

Brazilian Robert Scheidt was second with 11 points, Belgian Phillipe Bergmans third with 13 points, Swedish Karl Suneson fourth with 15 points and Portuguese Gustavo Lima fifth with 16 points.

A total of 42 sailors are competing in the 11-race laser class.

Three-time former Sportsman of the Year Julie, it is to note, was ranked 36th out of 56 sailors in Atlanta, USA, in 1996 and 28th out of 43 in Sydney, Australia.