The Dutch Olympic gold medal tally doubled on Friday, with a win in the sailing competition and a third rowing gold.

In Marseille, Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz took the top prize in the in the 49erFX skiff competition which almost ended badly when the Dutch duo thought they had already crossed the line.

Sweden crossed first, followed by Italy, but when the points were added up 10 minutes later, Van Aanholt and Duetz were two points ahead of the Swedish team and named the winners.

On the rowing course, Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester took gold in the coxless pairs, a good four seconds ahead of Romania and Australia.

The Dutch team now has three rowing golds and two silvers. On Thursday the Dutch had won gold in the women’s coxless fours while the men’s quadruple sculls took the gold on Wednesday.

Track and field

The track and field competition is now slowly starting up and Dutch medal hopeful Sifan Hassan makes her first appearance on Friday, taking part in the first heat of the 5,000 metres, shortly after 6 pm.

Hassan, who took gold in the two shorter distances in Tokyo, has opted to run in three events in this competition – the 5,000 and 10,000 metres and the marathon.