Penny Clark has scooped the last remaining place in Skandia Team GBR's sailing squad for the Beijing Olympic Games.
The 32-year-old had seemingly blown her chance of claiming the solitary British place available in the laser radial class when she finished behind team-mate Andrea Brewster in the world championships in New Zealand last month.
But, despite recording a seventh place finish in what was considered to be the decisive regatta for Britain's four laser radial hopefuls, the Royal Navy officer, who is ranked 13th in the world, has been given the nod.
"I'm really happy to have been selected, but for me it's just another hurdle towards the end goal, which has always been to get on that podium in China," she said.
Places in the 11-class squad were also confirmed for the five boats given provisional selection earlier in the year. Nick Dempsey (RS:X Men), Bryony Shaw (RS:X Women), Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield (470 Men), Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark (470 Women) and Leigh McMillan and Will Howden (Tornado) will join the previously selected group of Ben Ainslie (Finn), Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson (Yngling), Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes (49er), Paul Goodison (Laser) and Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson (Starr) in Qingdao.
The selection completes the Team GBR sailing squad, making it the first from Britain to finalise its line-up for the Games.
Stephen Park, the Royal Yachting Association Olympic manager, said: "The clock is ticking ever faster now as we enter the final phase of our Games preparations, and having now completed our line-up of sailors for Beijing, the team as a whole is focusing fully on delivering the goods in China, where we hope we can do the nation proud once again."
Britain's sailors have been the most successful at the last two Olympic Games, claiming five medals at each, but despite their continued success at a global level Nick Rogers believes the apparently conservative target of three medals from 11 classes is accurate.
He said: "I don't think the British sailing team target of three medals is conservative, I think it is realistic. Three medals would be success. While there is the potential for a lot of medals, if I was a gambling man I would bet on three in an honest appraisal of our chances.
"As a team we know it is not going to be easy. British success at recent events means expectations are raised and that may be misleading. There are also a lot of things that are going to possibly make things even better for us but no-one ever counts their chickens especially at a venue like Qingdao."
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