Sterling qualifies for Rio windsurfing

Australian windsurfer Joanna Sterling has overcome intense competition at the world championships to qualify for the Rio Olympics.

The RS:X World Windsurfing Championships wrapped up on Saturday in Oman with Sterling finishing 31st overall and securing one of the six country qualification spots for Rio 2016.

She missed out on qualifying for the top-30 gold fleet, but won the 31-60 silver fleet rankings.

"We have had two days of qualifying in light wind conditions, six to ten knots and unfortunately I missed out on racing in the top-30 gold fleet by one place," Sterling said.

"I was pretty disappointed about that after such a close fight.

"But having said that, I had some good races in the final series and came away with the lead in the Silver fleet and qualifying Australia for Rio."

There are 10 Olympic boat classes and Australia has now secured eight of the nine boat classes it is aiming to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, with only the women's Laser Radial still remaining.