Series 2 - Ep19 - Giles Scott Part1

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This month's edition of Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast sees the double Olympic gold medallist talking to one of the current stars of the 36th America's Cup, as she chats with British INEOS TEAM UK tactician, Olympic Gold medallist and multiple world champion in the Finn Class, Giles Scott.

At just thirty four years old, Scott is already sailing in his third Cup Challenger Series campaign, and has become a pivotal part of Sir Ben Ainslie's after guard.  During racing, discussions between the pair on board the British boat 'Britannia' are available for all to hear on the live broadcasts of the event, and reveal an understanding and relationship that spans over two decades.

In the first part of this two part podcast, Scott discusses his early days of sailing, and how a move to the Finn Class saw him campaigning with Ainslie in the build up to the 2008 Olympics in China.  Three years later, at just twenty four, Scott was a dominant force in the Finn, but describes the bitter disappointment of  missing out on a London 2012, as Ainslie took the British Finn spot in their home Olympic Games.  It was a set back that would forge within Scott an even greater resolve.  By Rio his domination of the Finn Class was absolute, and his relief at finally clinching the Olympic gold medal was there for all to see as he sailed to victory in Brazil with a day of racing to spare...:

"I always got a lot of grief in the build up to Rio because I was a boring winner, I'd never celebrate, I'd never give them the amazing photo, or, you know, I'd always just give it the thumbs up but  the reason I did that was because it wasn't the one that I wanted.  So the out roar of winning in Rio was, it was a big release of all that tension, emotion, I kind of, had done what I'd aimed at, yeah, it was a good moment."

Part one of this edition covers much of Scott's Olympic career, as he remains in hopeful preparation for the postponed Tokyo Games of 2021,  but in Part two, chat turns to the America's Cup, and the British team's goal of winning the Cup back for the first time in it's one hundred and seventy year history.

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