HELENA Lucas vowed to “keep fighting for every point” after a nail-biting day that saw the battle for the 2.4mR gold medal move up a gear in Rio.

Lucas, who used to live on Portland, now sits in second overall, one point behind Australia’s Matthew Bugg, after scores of 1, 4 and 2 for the Brit, compared to two race wins and a second for the Aussie, setting the scene for a thrilling final three races today and tomorrow.

Yesterday’s final contest typified the back-and-forth nature of the racing.

Lucas having led from the start, found herself neck and neck with Bugg going round the windward mark and down the final run, the pair crossing the line with exactly the same time of 47 minutes 54 seconds but with Bugg getting the photo finish decision.

The 2.4mRs are scheduled to have two more races today, before one final showdown of the scheduled 11-race series tomorrow, after which the medals will be awarded.

However, with the closeness in the points across all the medal positions, with France’s Damien Seguin currently in third, Lucas insists nothing is decided.

She said: “There are still three races to go and I just have to keep going, chipping away and fighting for every point and just see what happens at the end of the week.

"It's so tight that anything could happen.

“Matt's had a great year, he's really found his form. I always thought Heiko (Kroeger) and Damien would certainly be ones to keep an eye on but Matt's showed some really good performances this year so I'm not surprised to see him up there.

"Hopefully the Gods of Brazil might be able to rustle something up today!”