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August 22, 2004 3:49 pm

U.S. woman finishes 14th in Europe sailing class

By GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

GLYFADA, Greece - Meg Gaillard of Pelham, N.Y., finished 19th in Sunday's final race in the Olympic Europe sailing competition, ending up in 14th place overall in a field of 25.

Siren Sundby of Norway won the gold medal, Lenka Smidova of the Czech Republic won silver and Signe Livbjerg of Denmark took bronze.

Gaillard's best finish in the 11-race competition was a third place in the fifth race.

Gaillard, 31, made no bones about being disappointed with her series.

``My first four races I made mistakes and found myself way back in the standings, which didn't please me,'' she said. ``The fleet was surprisingly close. We all knew the sea breeze wasn't steady, and I made horrible lane choices and have had a bad sense of shifts. I also think I over trained, but it's the only regatta you cannot do well at and still say, `At least I'm here!'''

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