NEW Australian hero Tom Slingsby had considered ditching the Olympics forever if he didn't win gold at Weymouth and Portland.

The 27 year-old Central Coast Laser sailor became Australia's first individual gold medallist at the London Games.

Slingsby was congratuled on Twitter by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who said "red is the new gold".

"Congratulations Tom Slingsby on gold in London. This is a win for all Aussies and especially for us rangas who think red is the new gold. JG"

"Just spoke to Tom - what a fantastic young Australian who we are all very proud of. JG @AOCOlympicTeam #goaussies"



After blitzing the regatta during the preliminary races before playing cat and mouse with Cypriot rival Pavlos Kontides during the medal race Slingsby said the thought of throwing in the Olympic towel was real.



The failed Beijing 2008 campaign where he was favoured to claim gold only to finish a catastrophic 22nd place had Slingsby on edge for four years.



"If I didn't win at this Olympics I'd definitely hang up the shoes," Slingsby said.



"I mean last time (Beijing 2008) I'd won the worlds, I'd won world cups, the Europeans and everything going into China and the Olympics was the only thing.



"Coming out of that (Olympics) knowing there was a four year wait for a chance at redemption - yeah it was pretty daunting.



"But I'm glad I stuck with it and had another crack.



"I think if I came away from here without anything I would have stopped the Olympics for sure.



"I just wouldn't have been cut out for it I think.



"But now I've got a medal I don't know, it's a pretty amazing feeling and it's hard to think that I wouldn't do it again."



After declaring winning gold was the best day of his life Slingsby revealed he had suffered extreme anxiety in the lead up to the showdown.



Slingsby couldn’t sleep and watching other Finn and Star class sailors lose their grip on medals in the unpredictable waters of the Nothe course had planted a pessimistic seed in his mind.



"I'm the happiest guy in the world right now and good luck to anybody trying to tell me that someone is happier than me right now,'' he said.



''But I went out to the Nothe yesterday to watch the Stars and the Finns.



“I saw how easily you could lose a lead.



"I saw the gold medal slip through a couple of guys fingers yesterday and I just said to myself ''that's not going to be me and I'm not going to give him (Kontides) an inch."



Australian 49er crew Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, who virtually secured gold medals themselves on day 10, were the first to congratulate Slingsby on his gold medal win.



The pair made their way across the choppy waters to salute the champion.



Even Prime Minister Julia Gillard got in on the act.



Ms Gillard called the Australian sailing's media manager saying she was about to go to bed and would call Slingsby to congratulate him in the morning.



But he may not be able to take the call at 10pm British time as he was set to celebrate the biggest day of his life at the Cove House Inn - a Portland pub which has been overtaken by Australian sailing fans during the Games.



Slingsby was roared to victory by a large crowd watching from the Nothe peninsula, overlooking Weymouth Bay.



Among them were Slingsby's father Dave, mother Mavis, his sister, brother-in-law and girlfriend - the Italian windsurfer Flavia Tartaglini.



"Gold was what he came here for,'' Dave Slingsby told the BBC, adding his son was left a shattered man after Beijing.



"He was world champion, world No.1 and it was devastating.



"It was devastating for Mavis and I and our family but you can imagine what it was like for Tom - awful."



Mavis Slingsby said she lay awake the night before trying to work out where Slingsby would need to finish the race to secure the gold medal.



"At three o'clock this morning I woke up and I was doing the maths myself,'' she said.



America's Cup winning skipper John Bertrand, who is also a selector for the Australian sailing team was beside himself after Slingsby crossed the line for gold.



''I'm so damn proud of Tommy," Bertrand said.



''He's faced his demons from Beijing where he went in as world champion and finished 22nd.



''He's become stronger, he's become tougher and he's done the job at last."

Slingsby's teammates are now hoping to turn the waters off Weymouth into a golden pond with four others crews still in with a chance of claiming gold medals in upcoming days.



Australia sailing could well exceed its best ever medal tally at a Games - the two gold, one silver and one bronze won at the Sydney Olympics - if other sailors live up the expectations.



This could also see Australia displace Great Britain as the top Olympic sailing nation in the world.



Queensland 470 skipper Mat Belcher and his Sydney crewmate Mal Page are well positioned for glory on Wednesday, while fellow world champions Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen are certain to pick up gold in the 49er skiff class.



OUR OTHER MEDAL HOPES



49er SKIFFS

Australian sailors Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen are assured of winning the 49er skiff gold medal at the Olympic regatta in Weymouth.The world champion pair amassed enough points during day 10's two races to be mathematically sure of winning the gold. Outteridge and Jensen now just need to compete in Wednesday's medal race - even if they finish last - to clinch the victory.

470 MEN

Queensland's Mat Belcher and crewman Mal Page will be vying for their gold medal on Thursday night. The pair have four races remaining, which will be sailed tonight and tomorrow. If they win gold, Page will become the first sailor to win two gold medals for Australia. Going into tonight's racing the pair have a four-point lead over old rivals Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell from Great Britain. The New Zealand team of Paul Snow-Hansen and Jason Saunders are third, a huge 23 points behind the Australians.



MATCH-RACING

While tipped as dark horses for a medal few expected Olivia Price, who turned 20 last week, and her team to be sporting the only unblemished scorecard of the regatta. The trio must now hold their nerve in the final series of the match-racing to win an historic gold medal in the class which has made its debut at the London Games. They're back on the water tomorrow night and the final is Saturday, the last event of the Olympic sailing program.



470 WOMEN

It is still too early to forecast how our women's 470 crew will do at the Olympics with Elise Rechichi and Belinda Stowell having competed just half their regatta in the two-handed dinghy. The pair are outside the top 10 at the moment, but Rechichi won gold in this event in Beijing and Stowell is also a former gold medal winner - vital experience for Friday's finals.