Ben became a three time Olympic gold medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, a feat that confirmed him as one of Britain’s greatest ever Olympians. With three gold medals in three successive Games, Ben is an inspiration to those around him, and one of the greatest sailors ever to compete at the Olympics Games.
Ben’s success began in Lasers at 16-years-old when he was titled Laser Radial World Champion, and at 19 he won his first Olympic medal - silver in Atlanta. Four years later, he achieved every athlete’s dream by winning Olympic gold in Sydney.
After Sydney, Ben spent 14 months with the ‘One World Challenge’ America’s Cup campaign, before preparing for his next Olympic challenge. His switch from Lasers to the Finn dinghy meant increasing his bodyweight by 15 kilos to stay competitive. The gruelling training paid off in 2002, when Ben won the Finn World Championships. He successfully defended his world title time after time and in 2005 he made history by winning a record fourth successive Finn Gold Cup. Oh, and on the way he won Olympic gold again in Athens.
After consolidating his position as the world’s greatest Finn sailor, with a fifth historic world title at the Finn Gold Cup in Melbourne this year, Ben’s unbeaten run continued as he won the European Championship in May 2008.
The 31-year-old was an important part of the winning bid to bring the Olympic Games to London in 2012, and he may yet look to capitalise on home advantage to take another gold on the Weymouth waters. As a key member of BT’s team of Ambassadors for London 2012, Ben brings a wealth of Olympic experience and is a massive inspiration to all of us, not to mention to the thousands of young sailors around Britain themselves striving to become the Olympic champions of the future.
