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Pavlos Kontides eyes Cyprus first-ever Olympic gold

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Cypriot sailor Pavlos Kontides is on course for securing a first-ever Olympic gold for Cyprus after leading in the Laser category at Tokyo 2020 with 18 penalty points.

Kontides, 31, is well placed to end up on the podium, but it is the gold medal that would jettison him as a sporting immortal.

After Tuesday’s three races, he leads the standings, followed by Mat Wearn from Australia with 27 penalty points; third is Sam Mets from New Zealand with 60 penalty points.

Kontides will compete again Thursday at the Fujisawa course as Wednesday is a rest day.

The sailor had already entered the history books by becoming the first and only Cypriot athlete to win an Olympic medal when he got silver in London 2012.

He came 7th in the XXXI Olympic Games Rio 2016, and in December 2016, he won his first World Cup in Melbourne.

The next year he won the World Cup at Hyeres, France, one of the most famous sailing events in the world.

In September, he was crowned World Champion for the first time by winning the Laser World Championship in Split, Croatia.

It is his second home as he has lived and trained in Split for the last ten years.

In October 2017, he ranked 1st in the Laser World Ranking for the first time in his career.

The year after, he was crowned back-to-back World Champion in Aarhus, Denmark and European Champion in La Rochelle, France.

He received the title of The Rolex Sailor of the Year 2018, and in 2019 he won the World Cup in Enoshima, Japan.