Ben Ainslie of Britain waves to specutators after winning the the Finn gold medal at Olympic sailing regatta here on August 17, 2008. [Xinhua]

The Beijing Olympics has cemented Ben Ainslie's status as one of Britain's greatest Olympians.

After a gold in the Finn class in Athens, the 31-year-old veteran repeated his golden achievement yesterday in the same class. He raced to a silver in the Laser class in Atlanta in 1996 at age 19 and grabbed gold in that class in Sydney in 2000.

"The Olympics is a chance for sailing to represent itself on a global scale and to win a gold medal gives you an immense feeling of achievement," he said.

His fourth appearance at the Olympic Games has made him the biggest name in Qingdao waters.

He also has won eight World and European Championships, was crowned International Sailing Federation World Sailor of the Year in 1998 and 2002 and was a four-time British Yachtsman of the Year. He also won the championships in both the 2006 and 2007 International Sailing Regattas in Qingdao.

Ainslie holds the world record for the number of wins in the long-established and legendary Olympic Finn class.

Since 2004 Athens, he has been unbeaten in the Finn.

He began sailing at the age of 8 with his family in Restronguet, Cornwall, the coastal county in southwestern England.

What started as a hobby quickly turned into a way of life. By the age of 16 Ainslie was Laser Radial world champion.

In September 2007, the UK's campaign for the America's Cup named Ainslie skipper for races likely to take place in 2009 and 2011.

Ainslie said the people most influential in his sailing success are his parents, "Roddy and Susan, who have given me endless time and support over the years".

Roddy skippered the yacht Second Life in the first Whitbread Round the World Race of 1973-74. The younger Ainslie has engraved his mother's name "Susan" on each of his boats to give him good luck.

Yet in the first sailing race of the 2008 Olympics, he didn't perform well, ranking only 10th.

"My greatest strength is that I never give up," he said.

"During the competition he is of course the main contender," said Jonas Hoegh-Christensen from Denmark, who is ranked world No 1.

"Anything but gold for him would be a catastrophe. He is a very complete sailor and makes very few mistakes. He is hard to beat."

Ainslie credited his sailing heritage with his string of victories.

"I guess I'm fortunate in that I have now been racing boats for 20 years, pretty much continually, yet I am still really motivated to train hard, learn and improve," said the 31-year-old champion.

"I feel that I still have a long way to go and I'm still very passionate about winning," he said.

(China Daily August 18, 2008)