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Sailing duo await final call on Olympic selection following ongoing battle

May 13, 2021

Andy Maloney and Josh Junior are waiting to hear which one of them will be chosen for the NZ Olympic team for Tokyo.

The ongoing battle between best mates for one Olympic spot has taken another step forward, after Andy Maloney won sailing's Finn class World Championship in Portugal last night.

Fellow Kiwi Josh Junior finished third after a historic win last time, and the pair now await who will be chosen for Tokyo.

"We always knew from the beginning it was going to be a tight battle between the two of us and from the start we made sure there are some pretty clear guidelines set. It was pretty black and white, we've done all we can do now," Maloney told 1 NEWS.

However, the Olympic decision does not come down to whoever came out on top in Portugal.

"We've had multiple events that come into the Olympic decision for the selectors so this obviously plays a part in the whole process but there's many events they'll look back on to make their decision," Maloney said.

Fittingly, the pair will be together in Europe when the call finally does come, whether it's training in the Finn or competing in the SailGP.

Whoever misses out will take up the mantle of coach.

"Whoever is going to be the coach is going to have to learn to coach pretty quickly," Junior laughed.

"But we know each other so well, been best mates for a long time. Look, if I was lucky enough to be the one sailing I couldn't think of anyone better to have [as coach] than Andy." 
 

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