When we think of Britain in the Olympic Games certain images come to mind; Kelly Holmes winning double gold, Seb Coe and Steve Ovett’s rivalry in the 80s or Mary Peters’ pentathlon gold. But in fact it isn’t on the track that Great Britain has been most prolific; it’s in the water.
Since sailing was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1900, Great Britain has won more gold medals than any other nation, with a running tally of 20. In the overall medal table the team comes second only to the United States, 43 to 57 respectively.
Although women have been winning medals in the sport since 1908 - Frances Rivett-Carnac was the first to win gold as part of a four-‘man’ crew- it wasn’t until the Seoul Olympics in 1988 that a women’s event was introduced. Since then, women have competed in every Olympics, and in Beijing this year they will be taking part in four different events.
The 2004 Olympics in Athens saw Great Britain secure a gold medal in the Yngling event, and there is every chance that the girls will be bringing home more medals this summer, after dominating the sailing world for the last couple of years.
The four events that GB’s women will be taking part in are:
Yngling - women’s keelboat
Pronounced “ING-ling”, this type of sailboat has been described as a cross between a planing dinghy and a keelboat. After success in Athens, GB are hot favourites to retain their title in Beijing.
Two thirds of the 2004 team remain, these being Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, with Shirley Robertson being replaced by Pippa Wilson. The trio recently won the Yngling European Championships, meaning that together with the World Championship and the 2007 Pre-Olympic title, they now hold all three major titles.
RS:X - women’s windsurfer
Bryony Shaw represents Great Britain in the women’s windsurfing event after a successful year in 2007. Currently ranked number 7 in the world, Shaw made it to the heights of second in the world rankings last year, after winning two gold medals at grade One Olympic events and a silver at the RS:X European Championships. A definite medal contender.
470 - Women’s two person dinghy
The 470 is a planing dingy with a centreboard, with its name coming from the overall length of the boat - it’s 4.70m long.
The duo of Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark were placed seventh in the last Olympics, and will be hoping for a better result this time around. Although the two are not currently in the world’s top ten rankings, their confidence will have been lifted by a bronze medal winning performance at the Princess Sofia Trophy at the end of March. If conditions are right on the day, these two could stand an outside chance of a medal.
Laser Radial
The Laser Radial is a small sailing dinghy that is sailed by one person. In the case of the GB team, that one person is Penny Clark. Clark, ranked 13th in the world, was selected despite only coming in 7th, behind fellow Brit Andrea Brewster, at the recent World Championships. Nevertheless, she did get the nod and will be looking for a podium finish come the summer.
Despite the strength of the team going into these Olympics, there are fears within the camp that the light winds at the Chinese venue of Qingdao may result in some events becoming a ‘lottery’. Although organisers are doing all they can to quash these theories, GB team manager Stephen Park remains concerned. All will be revealed August 16th - 21st when the Olympic sailing events take place.
Rachel Stansfield, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
Photo credit: Lead photo of Christina Bassadone taken by Ranald Mackechnie as part of a special photoshoot to promote the Olympic team. Other team members who took part in the marathon 19 hour shoot were Saskia Clark, Bryony Shaw, Iain Percy MBE and Leigh McMillan.
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