Sir Ben Ainslie CBE

Sir Ben Ainslie CBE is a British sailor with a record as the most successful Olympic sailor in history. He won an Olympic silver medal at Atlanta in 1996, then went on to achieve gold at Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. He was named World Sailor of the Year by the International Sailing Federation in 1998, 2002 and 2008. He began sailing at age eight in Cornwall and became a Laser Radial World Champion by sixteen. After winning Olympic gold in the Laser class, he switched to the Finn class and gained 15kg to compete at the optimal weight.