Nicole Kidman Prompts Olympians' Sail to Victory

Aussie actress leaves "good luck" voice mail for gold medal-winning sailing duo before final race

Nicole Kidman's got the golden touch.

A phone call from the Australian actress helped spur two of her countrymen to victory Monday in the men's 470 class sailing competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, gold medal winner Malcolm Page tells Melbourne's Herald Sun.

After making tracks in the preliminary rounds, Page, partner Nathan Wilmot and their 4.70-meter-long fiberglass dinghy—named the Australia, after Baz Luhrmann's upcoming epic starring Kidman and Hugh Jackman—also finished first in yesterday's medal race, beating out teams from Great Britain and France for the top spot on the podium.

But despite their nautical tribute to Kidman, Page says that he didn't get to speak to her when she first rang him up because he saw the unknown number and let her call go to voice mail.

"I was getting breakfast and thought, 'Ah, I just don't want to talk to her today,' so I bumped it, then two seconds later there was a message from Nicole wishing us good luck," the Aussie athlete said.

But, like a sane person, he called her back before the race.

"Yes, I ended up returning her call," Page said. "She was very happy."

When asked whether Kidman's well-wishing helped spur his and Wilmot's ultimate victory, Page was more inclined to attribute winning the gold to skill, training and good conditions—but hearing the Oscar winner's kind words certainly didn't hurt.

"It does go a long way, don't worry about that," Page said. "She was very surprised that we do have a tradition of naming our boats after her movies, and she's just really stoked to be part of a team."

The team's previous boats have included the Dead Calm and Days of Thunder.