London 2012: Kate targeting return in Rio (From Thisisdorset)

London 2012: Kate targeting return in Rio

7:00am Tuesday 14th August 2012 in Latest Sport By Ian Wadley

SAILING star Kate Macgregor is aiming to erase the “horrible” memory of her Olympic agony – by qualifying for the Rio Games in 2016.

The Poole girl says she has been inspired by four-time gold medal winner Ben Ainslie as she sets her sights on a second consecutive Olympics .

Macgregor, 21, was the youngest member of Team GB’s sailing squad when she lined up alongside sister Lucy and Annie Lush in the women’s match racing class.

The Poole trio finished seventh on home waters after failing with a protest into their controversial photo-finish exit at the quarter-final stage.

But despite that disappointment, Macgregor revealed she was targeting a place at Marina Gloria in four years.

She told the Daily Echo: “I am pretty proud to have been part of such an amazing team. The CVs everybody has in the sailing team are just incredible. I realised how lucky I was to be part of that team and they are definitely inspirational.

“Ben has just won his fourth gold medal and not many people can say that! Hearing about the other sailors’ experiences is really cool and I definitely look up to them.

“Everyone speaks about getting the Olympic bug – once you do it once, you can’t stop. It is the competitiveness of it but also after the hard work of getting there, it is rewarding at the end.

“I definitely want to do Rio and then I will see after that.”

Match racing has been dropped from the Olympic sailing classes for Rio and Macgregor remains unsure which discipline she would opt for.

She also said that due to their similar size, the chances of the Macgregor siblings competing together in a two-person category were reduced.

“I have got one more year to do at university and I go back in October for that, but I will carry on sailing on my days off and see how it goes,” said Macgregor junior.

“I don’t have exact plans and don’t even know which boat I would sail in. I will try to get a bit of a mixture of fleet racing and match racing and not concentrate too much on one boat, but still carry on sailing because you will improve whatever boat you are sailing in.”

Macgregor, who is studying business management at Southampton Solent University, expects the events of London 2012 to “sink in” during the next few weeks.

Speaking after attending the closing ceremony, she added: “At the time, we were absolutely distraught and couldn’t really believe it.

“When we went through with the protest, there was still a little bit of hope in me that we would get it back or at least get a re-sail for it.

“But, unfortunately, it didn’t happen. It was horrible – really horrible.”