OLYMPICS: Dempsey wins silver to become most decorated Olympic windsurfer

Great Britain windsurfer Nick Dempsey (left) and his coach celebrate winning the silver medal.

A day after turning 36, the most experienced member of the British sailing team secured their first medal of the regatta in Brazil.

Impressive displays meant Peterborough-raised Dempsey merely needed to see through today’s double-point men’s RS:X medal race to secure silver, with Holland’s Dorian van Rijsselberghe already out of reach at the top.

It was the same one-two as four years ago and the five-time Olympian ended the regatta with a fourth-place finish on the stunning Pao de Acucar course.

Dempsey was beaming after adding silver to his bronze from Athens 2004 and second place at London 2012, seeing him enter the record books as the most decorated men’s Olympic windsurfer ever.

“It is amazing,” he said after making history in Rio de Janeiro. “It is awesome, something I am incredibly proud of.

“It has been a long time, I have been working for a long time, and it is very hard to stay at the top for that long.”

Dempsey has regularly said he would bow out after Rio 2016 but - fuelled by the afterglow that comes with a podium finish - suggested there was a slight chance he could continue onto Tokyo.

“I am not sure I can do it again,” the 36-year-old said. “I would love to if I could.

“I don’t know what is next, I would like to do my photography stuff, I would like to do some coaching, I might work a bit within the team, I might carry on sailing a bit more.

“I am just going to take some time. I don’t know (if I will be in Tokyo). Probably not.”

A fine start to the medal race petered out, with Dempsey admitting it became a “bit of a procession” and “cruise” around the stunning Olympic waters.

He praised the “awesome” venue that was so criticised in the build-up, giving it 10 out of 10 despite fears of how the polluted waters would impact sailors.

Finishing second to Van Rijsselberghe like four years ago stuck in the craw, but his children were on hand to put a smile on his face.

“Oscar wasn’t fussed,” Dempsey said, smiling. “And Thomas said ‘it’s okay daddy, you have two silvers now which is the same as one gold’. In his eyes, it’s okay which is cool.”