WEYMOUTH'S Paul Goodison struck gold today in the Laser class at the Olympic sailing event at Qingdao.

Paul, 30, who lives in Wyke Regis, finished ninth this morning in the 10-boat Laser boat race, comfortably in front of his only rival, Swedish sailor Rasmus Myrgren.

Paul said: "It is just amazing. It just feels unbelievable right now and it is going to take a while to sink in.

"It's been a testing week and I just hung in there over the weekend and into today."

He added: "With London 2012 just around the corner, it's a pretty amazing opportunity to represent Britain at the Olympics in England."

Paul is four-time European champion of the single-handed Laser dinghy class. He went to the Games as one of only two sailors in the world to be unbeaten at the Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao having won gold at both the 2006 and 2007 test events.

He finished fourth in Athens but ensured that he would not suffer similar heartbreak in China with a solid performance in the nine preliminary races that guaranteed him at least a spot on the podium heading into the medal race. Paul's gold increased Great Britain's medal haul in the sailing regatta to four, matching their pre-Games target and putting the team total just one behind the five that they achieved in Sydney and Athens.

Slovenia's Vasilij Zbogar, took the silver by finishing second behind race-winner Andrew Murdoch of New Zealand.

Italy's Diego Romero came home third to take bronze.