PARIS, France — Stefano Peschiera finished third in the men's dinghy sailing race at the Paris Olympics to win bronze and earn Peru its first medal in 32 years.
Peschiera totaled 80 points in the constantly rescheduled event on Wednesday, narrowly beating Hungary's Jonatan Vadnai by four points. His consistency in the eight qualification races left him with a slim five-point hold on the third spot heading into the final round.
But Peru's chance at a medal was nearly squandered when Peschiera finished ninth in the final round, adding 18 points to his score in the event -- higher finishes receive fewer points in sailing. Great Britain's Michael Beckett, who was fourth heading into the final, finished 10th and dropped to sixth in the final rankings. Vadnai finished third in the final, erasing most of the deficit to Peschiera, but not enough to score a medal.
Wednesday's final was rescheduled from Tuesday because of a lack of wind. The event started on Wednesday but was postponed once again during the race.
Peschiera earned Peru's first medal since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Juan Giha won Peru's last medal with a silver in a skeet shooting event. Peschiera's medal is the first bronze for Peru.
Peru nearly ended its medal drought in the surfing competition. Alonso Correa lost the bronze medal match in the men's shortboard event to Brazil's Gabriel Medina.
Peru wasn't the only nation to hit a milestone in the dinghy race. Matt Wearn won Australia its fourth straight gold in the event and Cyprus scored its second medal ever with Pavlos Kontides winning silver. Kontides won Cyprus' first medal in this event at the 2012 London Olympics.
