Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark win gold at 470 World Championship

Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark

Great Britain sailors Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark won the gold medal at the 470 World Championship in Barcelona.

Joint leaders before Saturday's final event, they finished third in the medal race to beat France's Camille Lecointre and Mathilde Geron to the title.

Netherlands duo Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout, who also started as joint leaders, took the bronze medal.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet for me but Sas is super happy, she's so excited," said 24-year-old Mills.

"We knew we had the potential to win here, and it's a huge thing to be world champion but at the same time I can't stop thinking about this summer and the Olympics, which is what this year is really about for us."

Mills and Clark, who claimed silver in December's World Championships in Perth, endured a difficult start to the week after a first race disqualification when they suffered a black flag penalty for being over the startline.

But, after overcoming a range of conditions during the week to gradually climb the leaderboard, they ended up in the lead heading into the final day.

"It's a fantastic result," said Royal Yachting Association's Olympic manager Stephen Park.

"Hannah and Saskia have made steady progress to put them in a position where they were able to maintain their confidence after a disappointing Palma World Cup event, and go on to win the World Championship even in the face of a black flag in their first race of the regatta.

"They should definitely take a moment to reflect on what they have achieved in becoming Britain's first women's 470 world champions."