S1E61: Legendary British sailor Ben Ainslie: I love the 'freedom' in sailing

Hard Tackle

Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor of all time, chats with us in Singapore.

Synopsis: The Straits Times tackles the talking points in sport every second and fourth Wednesday of the month.

In this episode, ST’s assistant sports editor Rohit Brijnath chats with Ben Ainslie, a legendary sailor with five successive Olympic medals from 1996 to 2012, four of them gold. He has been world champion multiple times and a winner in the 2013 America's Cup.

He was in Singapore for the inaugural Singapore Sail Grand Prix from Jan 14-15 at East Coast Park. Singapore is the first South-east Asian country to host a leg of the SailGP hydrofoiling series in 2023 as part of a three-year deal. SailGP is into its third season this year, and this competitive series includes some of the world's best sailors.

In these audio excerpts from an interview, Ainslie shares his thoughts on pressure, love for sailing and his fear of losing.

Highlights (click/tap above):

0:42 What draws Ben Ainslie to sailing?

1:25 His relationship with the wind, key to success in sailing

3:00 Why do some top athletes like being provoked, as it pushes them to excel?

5:08 Driven by the fear of losing

Read more: https://str.sg/wFuA

Produced by: Rohit Brijnath ([e-mail]), Ernest Luis & Eden Soh

Edited by: Eden Soh

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Chapter

1. Legendary British sailor Ben Ainslie: I love the 'freedom' in sailing (00:00:00)

2. What draws Ben Ainslie to sailing? (00:00:42)

3. Ben's relationship with the wind (00:01:25)

4. Why some top athletes like being provoked (00:03:00)

5. Driven by the fear of losing (00:05:08)