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Alison Young concedes that the race to the 2012 Olympics is already on while insisting that Britain's young stars are not out for themselves.

The 22-year-old underlined her growing potential with an impressive ninth-place finish in the Laser Radial class at the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta in Weymouth with rival Charlotte Dobson the highest-placed Brit in seventh.

Young - who is part of the Skandia Development Squad - and Dobson are among a host of up-and-coming Brits competing for the sole British radial Olympic berth in the radial three years from now.

And while Young knows every outing on the water will count between now and 2012 she is adamant the current squad are helping and not hindering each other's chances.

"We've got a good squad of four girls, and we train together and work well as a group," said Young, who enjoyed a best-place finish of third during the week-long regatta.

"As we draw closer to the Olympics it will get more and more tense as we all know that only one of us will be competing in the Olympics.

"But at the moment we are working well together and we are all improving as a squad and whoever goes to the Games will have a really good chance of a medal.

"I had a pretty consistent week, which is good considering the conditions have been quite shifty, and the strong wind opens up the field a bit more."

Weymouth was awash with big names last week with Olympic champion Paul Goodison among a star-studded cast on the same waters that will host the 2012 Games.

One of those with a watching brief was double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton, and the Beijing and Athens star insists a competition like the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta is the ideal place for Young to hone her talent.

"One great thing about the Sail for Gold event is that on the start line you have youngsters lining up against the likes of Paul Goodison, Nick Dempsey, Nick Rogers - most of the Olympians are in attendance," she said.

"That is huge inspiration, they see these guys going to the Olympics and then to race against them they think, this is going to be us, I can achieve that too."

More than the Games / Eurosport