Tonci Stipanovic clinched Croatia’s maiden sailing medal as he stood first overall after the opening-round races in the men’s Laser class, assuring him a gold or silver on points before today’s final race.

Stipanovic, who can only be denied a gold by Australia’s Tom Burton and can finish no worse than second, guaranteed his spot on the podium on a sunny day with moderate, lightly-shifting winds and light waves on Guanabara Bay.

“It’s still sinking in, this first medal, this was the best day of all five days of racing,” Stipanovic, who finished fourth at the 2012 London Olympics, told reporters.

“I managed to pass Tom on the downwind, and now it’s between just him and me.”

Despite only one first in the opening round, Stipanovic earned his spot at the front of the 10 medal-round finalists out of a 46-boat fleet with eight top-10 finishes in the preliminary races.

Stipanovic will win either gold or silver if he shows up for the medal race, World Sailing, the sport’s governing body said.

Only Burton can catch Stipanovic for the gold in the medal race and New Zealand’s Sam Meech, third overall, is Burton’s only threat for the silver medal.

Bronze is up for grabs, and is the only medal five-time Olympic sailing medalist Robert Scheidt, of Brazil, can win after following Friday’s strong performance in wild waves with two weak finishes on Saturday.

Scheidt, an eight-time Laser class world champion also known as “El Demolidor,” was second overall on Friday but slipped three places after finishing 26th and 11th in Saturday’s races.

At 43, Scheidt, the oldest in the fleet, will have to turn in a near-perfect performance today and hope the others finish poorly to capture the unprecedented bronze.