Which Sailors Have Achieved Four Consecutive Gold Medals?

Sailing is one of the most fascinating Olympic disciplines, as it requires not only excellent and skilled sailors, but the expertise of boat builders who know how to build a craft that suits their strengths best.

With our extensive experience in both Olympic and World Championship boat racing, we know that the connection between the craft and its sailors is critical to success.

We also know that technology moves at a dramatic pace, and whilst it takes an exceptional manufacturer to make consistently winning craft, it takes an equally exceptional sailor to

to rapid advances in racecraft and rigging.

In fact, just two sailors managed to win four consecutive gold medals in sailing, which requires at least 16 consecutive years of being the best sailor in the world in your particular class.

For context, just seven other athletes (Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps in swimming, Mijain Lopez and Kaori Icho in wrestling, Ireen Wust in speedskating, Al Oerter in discus and Carl Lewis in Long Jump) have managed this feat.

The first of these was Paul Elvstrom, who was also one of the oldest ever Olympic athletes, having had a competitive career spanning 40 years and eight Olympic Games.

A legendary sailor, genial sportsman and innovator in boating technology, Mr Elvstrom innovated a type of self-bailer still widely used on Olympic boats, and literally wrote the rulebook for many of the international yacht regattas.

The other sailor is Sir Ben Ainslie, one of only two sailors to win five medals in a row (alongside Robert Scheidt, whilst Torben Grael won in non-consecutive Olympic Games) and one of the greatest British sports personalities of all time.

The son of sailor Roddy Ainslie, Sir Ben Ainslie won silver in Atlanta in 1996 in the laser class, but would go one better in Sydney in 2000, beating Mr Scheidt in the process.

He would then switch to the heavier Finn class and win three gold medals in a row, whilst also being the first person to carry the Olympic torch ahead of the 2012 Olympics in London.