Ben Ainslie
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Charles Benedict "Ben" Ainslie, OBE, (born 5 February 1977 in Macclesfield) is an English sailor and three-times Olympic gold medalist. He started sailing at the age of 4 and first competed at the age of 10. Ainslie's first international competition was the 1989 Optimist world championships held in Japan where he placed 37th.
The son of Roderick 'Roddy' Ainslie, who captained a boat that took part in the first Whitbread Round The World Race in 1973, he won a gold medal at the World Youth Championships in 1995 and was awarded the title of British Yachtsman of the Year in 1995, 1999, 2000 and 2002. He was elected ISAF World Sailor of the Year in 1998 and 2002.
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[edit] Early life
Ainslie attended Peter Symonds College[1] and Truro School in Cornwall.[2]
[edit] Sailing
[edit] Olympic success
| Olympic medal record | |||
Competitor for  Great Britain |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sailing | |||
| Gold | 2008 Beijing | Finn | |
| Gold | 2004 Athens | Finn | |
| Gold | 2000 Sydney | Laser | |
| Silver | 1996 Atlanta | Laser | |
Ainslie was a gold medalist at the 1993 Laser Radial World Championship, gold medalist at the 1993 Laser Radial European Championship, silver medalist at the 1994 IYRU World Youth Sailing Championship in Marathon, Greece and gold medalist at the 1995 IYRU World Youth Sailing Championship in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Ainslie won silver at the 1996 Olympic Games and gold in the 2000 Summer Olympics in the Laser class. He put on 40 pounds (18 kg) and moved to the larger Finn class for the 2004 Summer Olympics, where he won gold, a feat he repeated in the 2008 competition. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours after his success in Sydney, and was promoted to an Officer of that Order (OBE) in the 2005 New Year Honours following the Athens Games.[3][4]
[edit] Americas Cup
At the beginning of 2005 he worked in the role of Tactician in the New Zealand based Team New Zealand who were preparing to compete in the challenger selection process to win the right to Challenge for the 32nd America's Cup.
In May 2005 Ainslie took the decision to relinquish the role of tactician and focus on improving his Match Racing skills as helmsman of the 'B' boat used to practice and tune the race boat helmed by Dean Barker.
[edit] References
- ^ "Ben Ainslie". Sailor Biography. ISAF UK. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
- ^ "Olympic Nod for Ainslie". BBC Cornwall Sport. BBC (2008-01-14). Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 56070, page 13, 30 December 2000. Retrieved on 2008-08-22.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 57509, page 9, 31 December 2004. Retrieved on 2008-08-22.
