Series 1 - Ep12a - Iain Percy Part 1

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This month Shirley Robertson sits down for another two part edition - this time talking to her one time Team GB team mate Iain Percy.  A double Olympic gold medallist, Percy topped the podium in Sydney 2000 at the beginning of British Sailing's golden era - Robertson and a certain Ben Ainslie also bringing home gold for GB in those Games.

Percy bagged gold again in Beijing in 2008, and then silver at home in London 2012.  And it's these years of shared Olympic history that form the foundations of Part 1 of this chat - from their formative sailing years through to sharing digs at the Games in Sydney, Robertson and Percy have much to talk about as they look back on their Olympic years.

This is a candid interview between two good friends, and Iain is open in discussing how much better the thrill of winning felt when part of a crew - his success in China of course achieved with his best friend and team mate Andrew 'Bart' Simpson.  The pair went on to win silver in London four years later, and Percy describes in detail the moments that saw their firm grasp on the gold medal suddenly slip away.

This is the first of two episodes of this month's podcast, and it concludes with a brief look at how Iain moved from Olympic sailing into the world of the America's Cup.  Part 2 is also available to download and includes an emotional discussion with Robertson about the loss of Iain's best friend Andrew Simpson, who tragically died in the build up to the 34th America's Cup in San Francisco.

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