Thunderstorms wipe out Olympic sailing

BEIJING, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Thunderstorms forced the postponement of sailing competition Thursday at the Olympics, creating a backlog of races for Friday.

Weather permitting, there will be races in all 11 classes of Olympic sailing Friday.

The United States' best hopes for medals in sailing rest with Anna Tunnicliffe in the Laser Radial and Zach Railey in Finn.

Tunnicliffe, ranked No. 1 in the world in the Laser Radial, had a 7-point lead over Mateja Petronijevic of Croatia after three of 11 scheduled races.

With four races left in Finn, Railey was 6 points behind front-runner Ben Ainslie.

The first gold medals in sailing are scheduled to be awarded Saturday.