Kiran Badloe eased to victory in the men's RS:X windsurfing competition ©Getty Images

Kiran Badloe maintained The Netherlands’ golden touch in the men’s Olympic RS:X windsurfing by earning a convincing victory as the first sailing medals of Tokyo 2020 were determined.

Badloe had produced a fine sequence of results in the opening 12 races of the regatta to open up a 19-point advantage over second placed Thomas Goyard of France.

The Dutch windsurfer headed into the double point medal race needing to avoid incident to be crowned champion.

Goyard was one of three sailors to be disqualified in the medal race at the Enoshima Yacht Harbour after a false start.

Israel’s Yoav Cohen won the race to put himself in medal contention, while Badloe eased into second to seal gold.

Badloe finished with a winning total of 37 points to succeed Dorian van Rijsselberghe as Olympic champion, with his compatriot having triumphed at London 2012 and Rio 2016.

"I knew these guys were going to push hard because they were all fighting for a medal, and I stayed as far away and as clear from everybody as I could," Badloe said.

"I actually started a little bit late, which was working out in my favour, and from there on I was able to sail a good race and catch up a bit.

"I'm happy the way things worked out for me, and I'm a little bit stoked to be walking away with the gold.

"I think it's going to sink in a little bit more over the next couple of hours, but this feeling is amazing and very special to me."

Bi Kun won the women's windsurfing event by a narrow margin ©Getty Images
Bi Kun won the women's windsurfing event by a narrow margin ©Getty Images

Goyard earned the silver medal on 74 points despite his disqualification from the medal race.

China’s Bi Kun finished fourth in the race to snatch bronze on 75 points, one clear of Cohen on 76.

The women’s RS:X competition saw only two points separate the top three athletes at the end of a closely contested event.

Lu Yunxiu held the advantage heading into the medal race, with France’s Charline Picon and Britain’s Emma Wilson needing a positive result and their Chinese rival to falter to take gold.

Picon earned victory in the medal race with Wilson ending as the runner-up.

Lu reached the finish in third place to clinch gold on an overall score of 36 points.

She becomes the third Chinese athlete to win gold in a sailing event at the Olympic Games, following Yin Jia winning the same event at Beijing 2008 and Xu Lija triumphing in the the women's laser radial in 2012.

Both Picon and Wilson finished the event on 38 points, with the French windsurfer earning the silver medal on countback.