WEST Mersea's Saskia Clark and sailing partner Hannah Mills have struck gold at the Olympic Games.

The pair successfully completed their women's 470 medal race, to ensure top spot on the podium in Rio.

Clark and Mills went into today's race on the brink of glory and with an unassailable lead.

However, they had been made to wait for their moment of glory after a lack of sea breeze led to their final race being postponed yesterday.

It went ahead this afternoon, though, and they completed the race to clinch a magnificent gold.

Former Colchester County High School for Girls pupil Clark and Mills have enjoyed a superb Olympics.

They went into the final race of the competition with a comprehensive 20-point advantage over their nearest challengers, New Zealand pair Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, thanks to two thirds and a second at Guanabara Bay.

They did so well in their preliminary rounds that it meant that the duo just had to sail a clean race and successfully complete the double points medal race without disqualification to secure gold.

Clark and Mills claimed three race wins and no score higher than eighth from their ten races, heading into the medal race.

Clark said: “We’ve been really consistent and solid all week.”

Clark and Mills won a silver medal together at the 2012 Olympics in London.