Annalise Murphy’s medal hopes handed significant boost in Rio

The news just keeps on getting better for Annalise Murphy in Rio.

The team Ireland sailor got off to the perfect start by winning her first race in the women's laser radial in Rio on Monday. Murphy got off to a flyer and once she took the lead early in the race, she never lost it, finishing ahead of Belgium's Evi Van Acker, who pipped Murphy to the bronze medal at London 2012, and reigning Olympic champion Lijia Xu. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/762707194164969473?lang=en Murphy didn't enjoy the same success in her second race, finishing in 14th place thanks largely to the choppy conditions in Rio. The result left her in fourth place in the overall standings, but she has since been bumped up to third place. Xu was disqualified from the second race due to an infringement, meaning the Chinese sailor had 38 points added to her overall tally. This saw Xu take a significant dive in the overall standings, while Murphy moved up to the third. However, before everyone gets their hopes up, this event is a marathon, not a sprint. There are still a lot of races to go before next Monday's finale, but this has certainly improved Murphy's chances of claiming a medal. https://twitter.com/Annalise_Murphy/status/762769502710947840?lang=en