Triple Olympic gold medallist and silver medallist
Born: Macclesfield, Cheshire
Lives: Lymington, Hampshire
Class: Finn (Single handed)
Ben Ainslie is Britain’s most decorated Olympic sailor of all time after winning Finn class gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Regatta in Qingdao, 2008.
The five-time Finn World Champion successfully defended the Finn title he won at Athens 2004 to surpass Rodney Pattison’s record of two golds and one silver, a feat Ainslie had previously matched thanks to his Laser silver (Atlanta 1996), Laser gold (Sydney 2000) and Finn gold (Athens 2004).
Ben started sailing at the age of 8 with his family in Restronguet, Cornwall. By the age of 16 Ben was already Laser Radial World Champion and at just 19 years old he won his first Olympic medal - silver in the Laser class at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Four years later, again sailing the Laser, he achieved every athlete’s dream of Olympic gold on Sydney Harbour.
For the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Ben switched classes from the Laser to the larger Finn, dinghy. He added 15kg to his bodyweight for his preparations for Athens. The hard work paid off, his second successive Olympic gold medal.
Following his win at the Sydney International Regatta in 2007, coupled with back to back wins at the two Olympic Test Regattas at Qingdao in 2006 and 2007 Ben was nominated to compete in Beijing, representing Team GB in the Finn.
In January 2008, Ben won gold at the 2008 Sail Melbourne Asia Pacific Regatta in the Finn Class and then went on to win his fifth Finn Gold Cup. Later in August 2008 Ben won this third straight Olympic gold medal in Beijing.
For more information visit www.benainslie.com