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Published 13 Jan 2012 09:30
HELENSBURGH sailor Luke Patience admits the fear of missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime was all the motivation he needed to finally seize a place at this year's Olympics.
Patience, alongside his crew in the 470 class Stuart Bithell, could only manage sixth place at Skandia Sail for Gold in Weymouth in June - a regatta which doubled as a London 2012 selection event.
As a result Patience and Bithell were overlooked for the sole British place for the Olympic test event at the same venue on the Dorset coast less than two months later in August.
Double Olympic silver medallist in the 470 Nick Rogers and his new partner Chris Grube were given the golden ticket but failed to justify the selectors' faith, finishing fifth in the dress rehearsal.
That left Patience and Bithell with a final opportunity to prove their worth at the World Championships in Perth last month - one they took with both hands.
The duo overcame their domestic rivals in style, capturing a silver medal behind Australia's Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page while Rogers and Grube placed tenth, leaving Team GBR's selectors no choice but to reward Patience and Bithell with the phone call of their dreams.
Patience said: "I was absolutely ecstatic when I heard the news.
"The Olympics has been a part of our lives for the last 15 years and we've been dreaming about this moment since the first Games we can remember in 1996.
"Since then, working towards the Olympics has consumed our lives and it's great to be given the opportunity to go to London 2012 and do ourselves and our country proud.
"Great Britain is such a strong nation in sailing and we're up against some of the best sailors in the world just to get selected for our country.
"Our failure at Sail for Gold, and thus not going to the pre-Olympics, was difficult at the time but we learned from our mistakes.
"It made us much hungrier going to the World Championships and we knew it was our last chance to perform well. We got silver but thankfully that was enough and it means we're going to the Olympics."
After overcoming the mountain of earning their place among the world's elite this summer, Patience - the first Scot selected onto Team GB for London 2012 - now faces the daunting task of planning to strike gold in less than 200 days time.
Since joining forces two-and-a-half years ago, Patience and Bithell have collected 11 major championship medals and the 25-year-old is determined to not let that purple patch stop on the grandest stage of them all.
He added: "It's great to have those medals and it's a healthy amount.
"We feel like we're proving ourselves on the global circuit and although we're not the best in the world yet - we intend to be by the time London 2012 arrives.
"We intend leave no stone unturned to give ourselves the best chance of being crowned Olympic champions."
Follow UK press agency Sportsbeat on the journey to the London 2012 Games www.twitter.com/sportsbeat.
Click here to see an exclusive video interview with Luke
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This article appeared in Helensburgh Advertiser 12 Jan 12
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