ALISON Young insisted there were “no excuses” after refusing to blame a broken ankle in the build-up to the Olympics for her laser radial performance in Rio.

Young won the medal race to end her regatta in eighth overall as the Netherlands’ Marit Bouwmeester claimed gold.

After the race, the Bewdley sailor revealed she suffered a broken ankle in a training accident eight weeks out from the Games and had undergone an intensive rehab programme to get her onto the Olympic start line.

But the 29-year-old was adamant the injury had not hindered her performance in Rio.

She said: “Four weeks out from the Games I couldn't sail but it's been a fantastic effort from the team to get me into a really good shape to race here.

"It altered my preparation but it hasn't affected my performance here. There are no excuses, I just failed to perform under pressure.

“A week out I was in good shape sailing well and I was sure I was going to be competitive here.

"It’s doubly disappointing to have performed so poorly for most of the regatta and to have let down those guys and not reflect the efforts they've put in to get me to the start line over the last eight weeks and the last four years.”

Young endured a tough first four races, posting no score better than 12th, before finding her form at the back end of the opening series, including a penultimate race first, to secure her position in the top 10 to qualify for the medal race.

In the final race, she recovered from getting a pumping penalty and doing turns on the downwind leg, and rounding mark two in seventh, to stage an impressive comeback in the upwind leg to lead the pack by mark three and hold her position to win.

But she knew any medal hopes were gone before the race and is already looking ahead to what’s next.

“Tokyo 2020,” she said. “That seems a very long time away but there's plenty to work to get right from here.

“It was tricky racing out there and it was nice to finish on two bullets and to know I could mix it in there but it’s very frustrating the rest of the week has not been the standard necessary.”

Ireland’s Annalise Murphy claimed silver and Denmark’s Anne-Marie Rindom bronze.