19-year-old Israeli wins world windsurfing championship by Frankie Sachs September 21, 2003 http://www.jpost.com Israel's Lee Korsitz blew away the windsurfing world as she went from an unknown competitor to women's mistral world champion at the Olympic Sailing World Championships in Cadiz, Spain. Gal Friedman, who won the 2002 Mistral World Championship, took the bronze medal in the men's competition. Korsitz, 19, has been windsurfing at the senior level for just over one year, and came into the event ranked No. 29. Her previous best result came earlier in the year when she came in seventh at the Mistral European Championship in Sicily. Korsitz led the event from day 1, winning the first race, and finishing the next three in fourth, third, and sixth place before winning the fifth race to substantiate her lead. After her worst performance (32) in the sixth race, back-to-back second place finished made her the clear favorite. But the experienced New Zealander, Barbara Kendall, a three-time Olympic medalist and defending world champ, came on strong at the end, winning the eighth and tenth races, to close within six points of Korsitz with only Sunday's final race remaining. However, a lack of wind at the bay delayed the start of the 11th and final race, which if cancelled, would have guaranteed Korsitz the title on the strength of the first 10 races. But after over four hours of waiting, it was decided that there was enough wind and the final race was on. A nervous Korsitz struggled on the final day, finishing 17th, but remaining ahead of her only real threat, who at the moment of truth, served up her worst performance of the week, coming in 27th and settling for the silver medal. Korsitz tallied 55 negative points in 11 races, edging Kendall by one point. France's Faustine Merret came in third with 63. Shiri Ron, who just last year came in fifth at the European Championships, finished 28th with 273 points, and never finished a race better than 18th. In addition to the gold, Korsitz will represent Israel at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Going into the final race, Korsitz credited Friedman with her success. At a press conference following the tenth race, she said "I have been training with the defending world champion in the men's event, Gal Friedman. He has taught me everything." But the skills and knowledge that helped Korsitz weren't enough for Friedman, the bronze medal winner at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Though first place was clearly out of reach, with Poland's Przemek Miarczynski easily taking the gold, winning eight of the first nine races, and clinching the title on Saturday, Friedman lacked the killer instinct he showed December in Pattaya, Thailand, when he became the world champ. Friedman, who together with Joao Rodrigues of Portugal trailed Greek rival Nikolaos Kaklamanakis by two points going into the final race on Sunday, came in ninth, two spots behind Kaklamanakis and missing out on the silver medal. Friedman finished with 57 points, Kaklamanakis with 53, and Rodrigues, who came in 13th in the final race, had 61 points. Miarczynski, the winner, had a remarkable 22. The other Israeli, Alex Chabner, finished in 51st out of 118 competitors with 313 points. Meanwhile, after six races in the 470 class, Gidon Kliger and Udi Gal are in fourth place with 18 points, while Yogev Yosef and Shachaf Amir are 23rd with 40 points. Kliger and Gal, who won the third race and finished second in the fifth, are only four points out of second place. In the women's 470, Nike Kornecki and Vered Bouskila are ninth with 33 points, only ten points from fourth. The 470 competitions are scheduled to end on Wednesday.