Sailing-Swede hopes lucky flag manicure helps to nail gold

MARSEILLE, France : Swedish skiff sailor Vilma Bobeck will be hoping that her long-standing ritual of matching her nails to the colour of the 'kite' sail will help hand the crew Olympic gold on Thursday.

Bobeck, who helms the Swedish women's skiff, said she usually paints her own nails, but was using a pro to do her manicure in the blue and yellow of Sweden's flag for the Games.

"All the medals I have achieved in this boat have been with matching nail polish and kite," Bobeck told Reuters ahead of the series last week.

At the Olympics, the skiffs' huge spinnakers, known as kites, are all in the colours of the national flags, adding a colourful twist to the racing when they are skimming downwind.

The Swedish women lie in third place going into Thursday's double points 10-boat medal race, and are among five crews who could come out of the double points finale with gold.

Bobeck and her crew Rebecca Netzler scored two 'bullets', the sailing term for a win, in Wednesday's three races as they sought to close the points gap on their French and Dutch rivals, who are in first and second place respectively.