Anna Tunnicliffe: Floating to victory

 The life-changing moment did not become real until Anna Tunnicliffe prepared to take a shower.

She was finally alone, back in her hotel room in Qingdao, China. The day had been memorably long and quite intense, as she completed her final laser radial sailing race in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, experienced a very emotional medal ceremony and then a news conference to describe how she dramatically won gold.

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Tunnicliffe needed to be by herself in order to process everything. This all seemed to be a blur, something so surreal that it had no quantifiable impact yet.

She was quite tired and numb, so she turned on the TV for a bit of distraction. Something immediately caught her eye. A channel was replaying the laser radial medal ceremony, and she watched, for the first time, how she looked receiving her first Olympic gold.

And then the powerful affirmation ran through her mind: I really won.

 The gravity of what had happened that day finally registered: She won the competition, she really did receive the beautiful gold-and-jade Olympic medal.

Tunnicliffe watched the ceremony until the end, and then stepped into the shower.

It was time to finally let go. Tears of joy and satisfaction flowed freely, because she had achieved her childhood dream - competing in the Olympics and winning.

"It was one of the happiest days of my life," said Tunnicliffe, who was born in England, grew up in Ohio and now lives in Florida.

Laser radial sailing regattas require endurance and strength, as sailors compete in 10 races over seven days. It's a true test of self-reliance in a one-person dinghy.

It's the sailor against the sea, and the waters of the Qingdao sailing venue provided a myriad of challenges. Qingdao (also known as Tsingtao), a city of 7.5 million residents in the Shandong province, lies 449 miles southeast of Beijing.

The main port, Fushan Bay, is a perfectly crescent-shaped outlet to the Yellow Sea, historically a hub for sailing and shipping. Tunnicliffe knew the course and city quite well, having competed in several practice and training events in the two years leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Tunnicliffe is a bit superstitious while competing, and she quickly adopted some routines. She'd start around 8 a.m., falling into the pattern of eating the same foods. She hoped for a bigger selection of dining options, but only found tea, cereal, toast and yogurt-the only items she felt were "normal-looking breakfast things."

Another morning pre-sail habit developed quite easily: Tunnicliffe watched an event or two on TV from Beijing, typically taking in some swimming or volleyball. Seeing other American teams and athletes doing well inspired her, and that was a good vibe to take to the water.

She headed to the boat park every day around 10 a.m., checking her craft and preparing riggings. Sometimes the sailors would hit the water immediately.

Other times, they'd sit on the dock for hours, thanks to Qingdao's finicky wind conditions. No wind means no sailing, even if it is the Olympic Games.

She finally began the first day of racing, and immediately took the lead. Things looked good, and Tunnicliffe, who came into the race as the world's No. 1-ranked female laser radial sailor, felt confident.

Tunnicliffe remained in first until the fifth race, when sailors drop their worst result. After dropping their scores, Tunnicliffe moved to third in the overall standings. The American was accustomed to being near the very top, and sailing this Olympic event was becoming tougher than imagined.

"I was sailing a very consistent event with my worst race being sixth, but I still couldn't take the lead," Tunnicliffe said. "My coaches told me to keep doing what I'm doing, and it will all sort itself out in the end. And slowly it did."

Tunnicliffe moved into second by the fifth day (seven races), and reclaimed the lead heading into the seventh day (after nine races)-the medal race.

She was in the right place, at the right time.

"I had done a good enough job up until this point with my results to secure a medal of some color going into the medal race, I had to now figure out which one I was going to win," Tunnicliffe said.

She thought about the Opening Ceremony in Beijing, walking with the U.S. team into the enormous National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. She remembered watching the Olympic flame move around the roof of the stadium, finally igniting the torch.

Those iconic scenes made the Olympics seem very real and present to her, and now was the time to make her dream come true.

But Tunnicliffe nearly lost it all in an instant. She thought she had false-started the race, so she returned to the start line to do it over.

Except she was wrong. Her start was legal, but she had committed an unfathomable mistake and her competitors took a formidable lead. Lijia Xu of China claimed first, while Lithuania's Gintare Volungeviciute was second.

Tunnicliffe had to finish two boats behind Volungeviciute or five boats behind Lijxa to win gold. At the first mark, she was eighth and they were third and fourth, respectively.

Things looked bleaker at the second mark, as Tunnicliffe fell into ninth.

She knew this was the time to go for it. She found a big shift in the wind, hit on it, and flew up to third place. By the next mark, Volungeviciute was winning, Tunnicliffe second and Lijia was third.

Tunnicliffe knew gold was close; she had to make it to the finish line without any changes.

"That finish line couldn't come fast enough," Tunnicliffe said. "I was overjoyed and relieved at the same time. I had been preparing four years for that moment, and was so happy that it came and all of that hard work had paid off."

Tunnicliffe's parents, brother, and husband, Bradley Funk, had been living and dying on shore during the race. When she crossed the line and won the overall gold, she saw and heard their cries of happiness.

The medal ceremony took place on a little pier in the harbor of Fushan Bay. Tunnicliffe wrapped herself in the American flag, accepted her medal, and received the playing of the National Anthem with a huge smile on her face as she sang along.

This was the first time women's laser radial was an official Olympic event, and Tunnicliffe was the first winner.

"I couldn't get the smile to leave my face, I was so excited," she said. "I had dreamed of this moment since I was 12 years old and I really couldn't believe it was happening. ... I watched my mum cry with joy the entire ceremony and I knew they couldn't be prouder of me."

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Joanne C. Gerstner is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.