Early Women Medallists

The first woman to win a medal in sailing at the Olympic Games was Frances RIVETT-CARNAC (GBR) at the 1908 Olympic Games held in London (GBR). Frances was part of the gold medal winning crew of four sailing in the 7 Metre Class.

The next Olympic Games to see a woman win a medal were the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp where Dorothy WRIGHT (GBR) was also part of the gold medal winning 7 Metre Class crew.

It was another eight years during the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam for the next women medallist. This time the honours went to Virginie HERIOT (FRA) who took the gold medal as part of a crew of 6 in the 8 Metre Class.

The eight-year cycle for women winning medals was repeated again as it was not until the 1936 Olympics in Berlin that another woman could take to the podium. Dagmar SALEN (SWE) was part of the bronze medal crew of five in the 6 Metre Class.

After the break in Olympic Games for World War II there were no women medallists until the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. This time two women went home with medals Vibeker LUNDE (NOR) won the silver medal as part of the crew of three in the 5.5 Metre Class and Emelyn WHITON (USA) was one of six crew members who took the gold medal in the 6 Metre Class.

Women’s Events Introduced

The 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul brought the introduction of a women's event for sailing in the 470 two-person dinghy. This trend has continued and women’s participation in the sailing events of the Olympic Games has continued to go from strength to strength at each edition, with new events added for the women’s one person dinghy, women’s windsurfer and women’s keelboat.

At both the Athens and Beijing Olympic Games Sailing Competitions, women represented 35% of the competing athletes (139 of 400). That represents a 32% increase on women’s participation in the sailing events of the Sydney Games (95 of 402 competing athletes).

At the London 2012 Olympic Games there will be four women’s sailing events, including women’s match racing, which will make its debut on the Olympic Programme.

In total, 90 medals have been won by women sailors at the Olympic Games. Alessandra SENSINI of Italy is the only women sailor to have won four medals – a total that includes one gold, one silver and two bronze.

Click on the link below to go to our interactive medal table of Olympic medallists in the women’s sailing events.