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16 Feb 2011

Ayton Ends Her Quest For Olympic Gold

Sarah Ayton Sailing's double Olympic gold medallist Sarah Ayton has today announced she is to retire from the sport with immediate effect, thus ending her quest for an historic third Olympic title at the London 2012 Games.

The 30-year-old Ayton, who is married to Olympic bronze medal-winning windsurfer Nick Dempsey, began her 2012 campaign in earnest in April 2010, nine months after giving birth to the couple's first son Thomas, and has been sailing for Skandia Team GBR in the two-person 470 class with Beijing Olympian Saskia Clark.

Ayton, who claimed Olympic glory in the Yngling class in Athens with Shirley Robertson and Sarah Webb, and again in Beijing with Webb and Pippa Wilson, was striving to become the first British woman to win three consecutive Olympic golds at her home Games in London.

"It’s been one of the hardest decisions of my life but last week I decided to call time on my sailing career after an amazing 12 years.  At the start of this campaign I knew what needed to be done and I knew it would be hard but achievable with a new class of boat, team and coach, however what I had no idea about was motherhood and how hard that would be and how much it would affect me mentally and physically which at the end of the day meant I couldn't give enough time and energy to my sailing."

But for Ayton, renowned for her dedication and 'no compromise' approach in her previous two medal-winning campaigns, the demands of Olympic classes sailing and motherhood have proved a relentless juggling act which left her drained and unhappy.

"To succeed at the highest level as an Olympic athlete you ultimately have to be pretty single-minded, and that's something that just doesn't sit happily when you're a mum as well," Ayton explained.

"Winning gold is what Olympic sailing is all about, so working towards 2012 and feeling like I can't give it my full attention has made me question why I am doing it, especially when it involves missing out on important time with Thomas.

"I've really enjoyed sailing with Saskia Clark, who's a fantastic talent," Ayton continued.

"I'm upset to be letting her down, but I know she's got 2012 firmly in her sights and is looking carefully at her options. I owe both Saskia and our coach Joe Glanfield huge thanks for the time and effort they have put into our programme."

"After a slightly disappointing result in Miami I sat down and looked at our program and what needed to be done in the time we had left to the trials. At the end of the day it's the trials that really matter. As it was we would be heavily relying on everything coming together for the trials simply because of my short time in the boat and the amount of time we've been sailing together."

RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park said: '"t’s disappointing to be losing someone of Sarah’s calibre and track record from our programme, especially at this stage of the cycle when she and Saskia had been progressing well towards their goals with our help and support.

'As Sarah knows only too well, a successful Olympic campaign is a full-time commitment requiring absolute dedication – there can be no half measures. Ultimately this decision is a personal one that only she can make, and it’s an understandable one in light of her family situation.

"We’re all sorry to see her hang up her sailing boots, but with London 2012 drawing ever closer I’m sure her knowledge and expertise will be put to good use off the water.'"

Read more of Sarah's thoughts in her final campaign blog.

Source: www.volvocarssailing.co.uk

Images: top and middle - © Richard Langdon, bottom - © Thom Touw