Reynolds, a San Diego sailmaker, turned trouble at the start Saturday (Friday night EDT) into the first U.S. sailing gold medal since he won the Star gold at Barcelona in 1992.
Reynolds, 44, and his crew, Magnus Liljedahl, 46, of Miami, were assured of at least the bronze medal when the day began. That's what it looked like they would get after going over the line early in the 11th and deciding fleet race, the combination of aggressiveness and being trapped there by Gavin Brady, a New Zealander who lives in America.
Reynolds had to turn back and cross the starting line again. Instead of being buried in the 16-boat fleet, the four-time Olympian ended up gaining from a wind shift on the right side of the Pacific Ocean course, while most everyone else thought the first shift would come on the left side.
"We decided to really go for it at the start and unfortunately, I get a little too wound up and we kind of went over everybody and we were over the line," Reynolds said.
Reynolds had enough speed to loop back around and not have that bad of a start on port tack, with clear air.
"We were really fortunate because the right side was a little favored," he said. "We got a little bit of a shift, and as soon as we got that, bang, we tacked back and we knew we were in the pack, we knew we had a chance."
Reynolds rounded the buoy at the top of the windward first leg in second place, which, as it turned out, was gold medal position. He finished second behind Canada's Ross MacDonald, holding off Britain skipper Ian Walker by one point for the gold.
Walker worked his way up to finish third in the final race. Reynolds and Walker came into the race tied for second on points.
Defending Star gold medalist Torben Grael of Brazil came in with a five-point lead. He was disqualified for being over the line early and not turning back to restart, but still got the bronze.
In the America's Cup earlier this year, Grael served as tactician aboard Italy's Luna Rossa, which was swept by New Zealand in the finals.
Reynolds' gold helps restore some glitter to the American sailing team, which was embarrassed in its home waters in Savannah, Ga., in 1996 by winning just two bronzes. Four years earlier at Barcelona, the United States won medals in nine of 10 classes, including the gold won by Reynolds and his crew, Hal Haenel.
Reynolds won the gold in '92 with one race left to sail. This time, he needed all 11 races.
"It is great to have come from behind," said Reynolds, who struggled early in the regatta. "There were probably a few people that counted us out after six races. I won't say that I counted myself out, but at that point I was starting to be concerned more about getting into the medals than just worrying about a gold."
Reynolds, who owns a sail loft near the San Diego Yacht Club, won the silver medal in 1988. He is a second-generation Star sailor and protege of Dennis Conner.
His father, Jim, who won a Star world championship with Conner and failed three times to make it to the Olympics, was among several family members watching from South Head.
Reynolds sailed into the top three with three strong finishes on Friday, including a first.
He was assured of a medal in an off-the-water development. Bermuda's Peter Bromby sought and received redress for a breakdown that kept him from starting one of Friday's races, but Bromby's adjusted score wasn't enough to give him a shot at a medal.
The deciding race was sailed in moderate breeze and heavy swells off the cliffs of the Sydney Heads.
Olympic Sailing
