It’s 16 years since the Sydney Olympic Games, when Team GB returned from Australia with 11 golds, 10 silvers and seven bronze medals, which back then was our most successful Games since 1920. It was the first Games that Team GB athletes had benefitted from National Lottery funding, following its introduction in 1997.
Ben Ainslie still looks back on the final race of the 2000 Sydney Olympics as one of his best ever - even though he didn’t win it.
Ainslie took to the water with one aim, making life difficult for closest rival, the legendary Brazilian Robert Scheidt, who he needed to better by ten points.
Scheidt’s smart match racing tactics had beaten teenager Ainslie into silver four years earlier in Atlanta and he was determined it wouldn’t happen again.
With no-one else in the fleet close to gold in the overall standings, he sailed close quarters to Scheidt and forced him to the back of the fleet, knowing if the Brazilian finished worse than 21st, he’d win the title in the Laser class.
He slowed his rival up at every turn - at one point Ainslie forced his opponent to make contact and pick up a penalty.
An amazing and enthralling tacking duel unfolded as the rest of the fleet streamed into the distance, every move brilliantly covered by a ruthlessly determined Ainslie.
"Any medal at the Olympics is an achievement but for four years I have had my heart set on a gold medal and trying to beat Robert," he said.
"Every day of my life over the last three years has been involved in trying to win this gold medal.”
A two-hour protest followed before Ainslie was crowned Olympic champion, something he would again experience in Athens, Beijing and London, making him the most successful sailor in Olympic history.
“Sydney proved to myself that I could handle big pressure situations, which is something that has helped me a lot and gave me a lot of confidence going forward,” he recalls.
Ainslie - now Sir Ben - is a Team GB ambassador, retiring from Olympic sailing after London. He helped Team USA to win the America’s Cup in 2013 and is now leading a British challenge for next year’s event in Bermuda.
Sportsbeat 2016