Canada's Sarah Douglas moves up to 8th heading into final races of women's Laser radial

Canadian sailor Sarah Douglas is in eighth place heading into the final heats of the women's Laser radial competition. 

The 27-year-old Douglas of Toronto scored a 13 in her seventh race on Thursday. But it was her fifth-place finish in her second race of the day that gave the Canadian a crucial bump in the standings. 

Douglas will have to ensure she stays within the top 10 sailors in order to advance to the medal race. She heads into the last two heats with a total score of 76. 

Anne-Marie Rindom of Denmark remains in first. The 30-year-old and Rio 2016 bronze medallist has finished within the top 10 competitors for all but one of her races — a 13th-place finish that gets dropped for a net score of 25. Her win in the eighth race has only further cemented her lead.

Rindom is now over 20 points ahead of Finnish sailor Tuula Tenkanen, who has risen to second place. There are only nine points separating those in second to fifth. 

Marit Bouwmeester of the Netherlands, who moved up to third in the standings after posting scores of three and nine, was black flagged in the seventh race. 

While she managed to finish within the top ten in her eighth race, the Dutch world champion and Rio 2016 gold medallist has slipped down to seventh place, 13 points ahead of Douglas. 

There were six black flags in the seventh race total.

Douglas will race again in her ninth race on Friday.