IN 2009, Lymington’s Beijing gold medal winner Pippa Wilson decided to take time away from the sport, needing ‘fresh air’ and motivation following her success.

In her British sailing team blog, she explained the reasons for stopping the sport that she remains so passionate about, missing out on a home Olympics and her motivation to campaign again for Rio 2016 in the new Nacra 17 multihull event. She will compete for the first time in the new class at the Princess Sofia World Cup regatta in Palma, Majorca this week.

“In 2009, I felt I needed to take a break from sailing. While at the time I didn’t know whether it was permanent, I was lacking some other things in my life that I needed, some space to understand myself better away from sport, some time to spend with my family and friends and some perspective.

“Having spent the majority of my childhood (from around the age of 12) with sailing and performing being at the real heart of my existence, at the age of 18, I became a full-time athlete with my heart set on winning gold in Beijing.

“After two years of extensive campaigning, in 2006, the timing and fit was perfect and I made the move to join Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb, gold medallists from Athens now in new roles in the boat.

“The road to our gold medal in Beijing 2008 was thorough, fulfilling and completely all-encompassing.”