Brazilian Robert Scheidt regained his Olympic Laser title on Sunday after keeping his key rivals behind in the final race of the series.

Scheidt, 1996 Atlanta Games champion and silver medalist in Sydney four years ago, held a nine-point cushion going into the finale and sealed gold by placing sixth.

Austria’s Andreas Geritzer, fifth four years ago, took silver and Slovenia’s Vasilij Zbogar the bronze, his country’s first ever Olympic sailing medal.

The 11th race was completed at the third attempt on Sunday. Shifting winds forced the first attempt to be abandoned before the first mark and, after lining up again, the start-sequence was postponed.

With the cut-off point (1555) for the warning signal to be given looming, after which the standings after race 10 would decide the medals, the 42-strong fleet got underway. As it happened, the medal placings remained unaltered.

Scheidt’s consistency over the 11 races proved the difference in the 42-strong fleet, the biggest in the Athens regatta. The record seven-times world champion won just once but notched up four top-five finishes.

Geritzer’s hopes of gold were hit by a poor sequence in races seven to nine, and ultimately dashed by a 34th place in race three.

Norwegian Siren Sundby won her first Olympic gold after enjoying a final race cruise in her Europe dinghy on Sunday. The double world champion, 21, needed only a top-21 finish from a fleet of 25 to take the title and coasted home in 12th place in the last of the 11-race series.

Czech Lenka Smidova took silver and Dane Signe Livbjerg the bronze.

Sundby, who finished 19th in Sydney when competing as a teenager, emulates compatriot Linda Andersen who won gold for Norway in the Europe class at Barcelona 1992.