Ben Ainslie
Best mate
Ben Ainslie has won three Olympic medals for Team GB and he’s going for gold again in China – so why does his name ring so few bells?
TEXT NEIL SQUIRES
There are some advantages to being British sport’s great unsung hero. Even though Ben Ainslie is aiming to complete a hat trick of Olympic gold medals in Beijing this summer, he can still go out to restaurants without being stared at. In fact, he is stopped more often by Chinese fans in Qingdao – the controversial Olympic venue he has described as “a sailor’s nightmare” – than he is at home in England.
But it is a source of disappointment for the greatest yachtsman of his generation that sailing only registers on the national consciousness once every four years and that, even then, it barely scratches the surface.
This is a shame. The five medals Britain picked up in both Athens and Sydney made it the country’s most successful Olympic sport. Britannia really does still rule the waves.
THERE ARE HIGH EXPECTATIONS that the sailors will light Britain’s Olympic flame again in Beijing but they are resigned to remaining largely anonymous in what is supposed to be a maritime nation.
“We are recognised in China, especially in the build-up to the games but back home professional sailors have a fairly low profile. A journalist recently asked a black cab driver in London if he knew who I was and he thought I was a rower,” says Ainslie.
“There are times when it can be frustrating, especially as sailing, cycling and rowing have been the saviours of Team GB in the last three Olympics. We have an amazing talent in this sport in the UK, not only at Olympic level, but also across other types of sailing, such as solo offshore and America’s Cup.
“We are very lucky to have a good system in place which is crucial in allowing young talent to be nurtured and not lost. It allows the opportunity to develop sailing from the grass roots all the way through to the professional level. Along with government funding and lottery support we have the facilities and coaches in place all over the country to allow children who have a passion and talent to take sailing further.”
BORN IN MACCLESFIELD, Ainslie was eight when his family moved to Restronguet in Cornwall. His father Roddy, a proficient sailor who competed in the first Whitbread Round the World Race, had retired and wanted to live closer to the sea. It proved to be a fateful decision for his son, who discovered the liberating joys of sailing and quickly became hooked.
By the age of 16, Ainslie was a world champion. At 19, all thoughts of following his other passion, American history, went overboard when he won his first Olympic medal – silver in the Laser class at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Four years later he struck gold in Sydney and then, in 2004, having raised his weight by two and a half stone, he carried away another victory in Athens, in the larger Finn dinghy.
“Sydney was the most memorable, not just because it was where I won my first gold medal, but the harbour was such a great natural amphitheatre,” he recalls. “I remember sailing past Sydney Heads and hearing my parents cheering me on, and the medal ceremony on the steps of the Sydney Opera House was a fantastic experience.
“The aura and occasion of the Olympics is still very special, even now. But I am going to China for no other reason than to try and win another medal, preferably gold.
I’m getting to the age where I’m not sure how many games I have left in me so I need to make it count.”
The chosen venue, Qingdao, presents distinct hazards. Imagine England playing their first Test against South Africa this summer on a village green and you have some idea of the potential problems ahead. The city might brew decent beer but it would have been difficult for the Olympic organisers to choose a less appropriate location. The lack of reliable wind and a tendency to suffer from blanket fog threaten to turn the whole event into a lottery.
“I think the Royal Yachting Association have predicted three medals for us but it’s going to be a difficult venue and some of the medals won’t be won off the form book,” says Ainslie. “Qingdao will certainly have its challenges; conditions will be very variable and, at times, inconsistent. From our experience of sailing at the venue in Qingdao before, we know the weather conditions are going to be very challenging, a very light air venue with strong cross tides. There is always the potential for cancelled days.”
The fewer the races held, the greater the chance of freak results, and this would be likely count against a thorough-bred team described as “the Formula One” of the home challenge in Beijing by the British Olympic Association chairman, Lord Moynihan.
The team are doing everything in their power to take control of the controllables. They are spending two months in China acclimatising ahead of the Olympics in August, employing a back room staff of more than 40, including a meteorologist, and sticking to individually tailored diets to reduce weight while maintaining energy levels in an attempt to counteract the conditions.
“I have always been one of the lightest sailors in the Finn class, but I will still look to lose about four to five kilos before the games,” says Ainslie. “I will be training in China through June and July – learning about the conditions on the water in China is crucial to success on the water. Both I and the rest of Skandia Team GBR have been competing in China since 2006 where pre-Olympic test events have taken place, which has given a great opportunity to train and compete in the conditions we will experience at the Olympics. I think we are better prepared at the venue than any other nation.”
In prime form after landing an unprecedented fifth world championship and winning at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma in March, Ainslie’s every living moment is now centred on the pursuit of a third Olympic gold. If he can achieve this magnificent feat, he will surely be tempted to try to emulate one of his heroes, Danish yachtsman Paul Elvstrom – who won four consecutive gold medals in the 40s, 50s and 60s – at the 2012 games.
AINSLIE WILL STILL ONLY BE 35 by the time of the London Olympics, where the water-based events will be held at British sailing’s centre of excellence, the gleaming £7.85m Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy on the site of a former Royal Naval Air Station.
“After Athens, I saw my career as all about the America’s Cup in the future. Then I was one of the Olymp ians on the stage in Trafalgar Square when London was announced as the host city for 2012,” he says. “Seeing and feeling the euphoria and excitement made me realise my Olympic journey was not over, I knew I wanted to be competing in London 2012.”
Ainslie took part in the America’s Cup in Valencia last year as a member of Emirates Team New Zealand, who lost to Swiss defenders Alinghi. “There is a lot that can happen over the next few years so I will have to wait and see. I am skipper of Team Origin, the British America’s Cup challenge, and it looks like we will be competing in the 34th America’s Cup in 2011,” he says.
Recapturing the America’s Cup for Britain – for the first time since the competition began in 1851 – is quite a dream for this exceptional mariner. But it’s one that can wait for the moment; Beijing is calling and with it a place in the Olympic history books.
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