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Beijing 2008
Athletes to Watch
Ben Ainslie
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- SPORT: Sailing
- COUNTRY: Great Britain
- DOB: Feb. 5, 1977
- BIRTHPLACE: Macclesfield, England
- HOMETOWN: Restronguet, England
- RESIDENCE: Lymington, England
- HEIGHT: 5-foot-11
- WEIGHT: 176 pounds
- EVENTS: Finn
- AINSLIE GOES FOR THREE: Ben Ainslie will make his fourth consecutive Olympic appearance when he sails in Qingdao, hoping to win his third gold medal. The two-time ISAF World Sailor of the Year competed in his first Olympics in 1996 when he was 19 years old, taking home the silver medal in the Laser. After winning back-to-back Laser Worlds in 1998 and 1999, Ainslie brought home his first gold medal from Sydney in 2000. After switching to the Finn in 2002, he won three consecutive world championships, and went on to capture the gold in Athens. Since then, Ainslie has won two more Worlds, giving him a total of seven world championship titles.
- BULKING UP: Ainslie switched to the Finn from the Laser because he was interested in pursuing an open class boat. In an interview with The (London) Independent in 2003 he said of the Finn: "You can have differently designed sails and masts, you can make adjustments," adding, "it's good for me to get a grip of the technical aspect of the sport." In order to get that grip, however, he had to gain weight, as the Finn is more physically demanding to operate. Ainslie went from just under 80.0kg (176 lbs) in 2000 to 94kg (207 lbs) in 2004.
- LEARNING EXPERIENCE: Along with winning gold medals at the Olympics, Ainslie has had a longtime dream of winning the America's Cup for Great Britain. After the 2000 Olympics, he joined the OneWorld America's Cup Crew, moving to Seattle for a few months, and then to Auckland to train. However, he soon realized crewing was not for him and he returned to single-handed sailing and took up the Finn. He did however, value the experience, saying, "When you're sailing on your own you only have to be at your own level, but with a team you have to be at the team's level."
- NEXT UP, AMERICA'S CUP: In 2007, he returned to the America's Cup, this time at the helm of Emirates Team New Zealand. Finishing in second place behind the Swiss boat, Alinghi, by just one second, Ainslie said it was disappointing to lose but, "it was a great experience and a huge learning opportunity for me." Recently named skipper of Team Origin, Britain's new challenger for the America's Cup, Ainslie hopes to fulfill his longtime dream of winning for his country.
- SAILING SINCE CHILDHOOD: His parents both talented sailors, Ainslie was on the water as early as age four. Sailing competitively at nine years old at his local yacht club, he was part of Britain's junior team when he was 12. In 1995, when he was 18, he won the World's Youth Championship, preparing him for his first Olympic berth a year later.
- Courtesy nbcolympics.com
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