Eleanor Aldridge (born 29 December 1996) is a British sailor from Dorset who competes in women's kite foiling. She won the 2023 Formula Kite European Championships and took the silver that year in the World Championships. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Aldridge won a gold medal in the women's Formula Kite event.[1]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | 29 December 1996 Poole, Dorset, England | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Kitefoiling | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editAldridge was born on 29 December 1996[2] in Poole, Dorset.[3] She was first introduced to sailing when she was seven years old and joined the Parkstone Yacht Club where she experimented with sailing dinghies.[4]
Career
editIn 2021 she beat French windfoiler Lauriane Nolot into third place at the Formula Kite World Championships in Torregrande in Sardinia. It was won by American Daniela Moroz with Aldridge in second.[5]
In 2022 she took the silver medal in the KiteFoil World Series Traunsee in Austria. She was beaten by the Polish surfer Julia Damasiewicz.[6]
Aldridge led the UK contingent at the World Championships in August 2023 in The Hague. Lauriane Nolot won the event and Aldridge took the silver.[7] She was followed in third and fourth place by fellow British competitors, Lily Young and Katie Dabson.[8] In 2023 she was training with four other "GB Kite Girls" in Weymouth. Katie Dabson and the other "GB Kite Girls" were assisting her training for the Olympics.[9] The "GB Kite Girls" were Aldridge, Maddy Anderson, Jemima Crathorne, Katie Dabson and Lily Young.[10]
She won the 2023 Formula Kite European Championships in Portsmouth beating the Dutch Annelous Lammerts and the French Poema Newland.[11] This was her first significant win and she took first, despite a crash. Lauriane Nolot, the world champion was not in Portsmouth for the event. There was an Olympic rehearsal type event later in Paris, in 2024, when she came second to Nolot.[12]
In March 2024 the Formula Kite European championships took place in Spain. Aldridge finished in fifth place just ahead of Lily Young,[13] however in May at the Formula Kite World Sailing Championships she came second to the Frenchwoman Lauriane Nolot.[14]
The new sport of kite foiling which had been selected in 2019.[15] Aldridge was then announced as a member of Great Britain's Formula Kite team.[12] In kitesurfing, there is a large focus on having a higher weight to provide an advantage, so Aldridge focused on gaining weight for the 2024 Olympics; she cut down on exercise in order to gain 17% extra weight.[16] She has stated that this means that cannot do other things she enjoys like cycling and eating healthily. All competitors are making similar sacrifices and she questions if the sport can continue if it requires riders to be so unhealthy.[16] She went on to win gold in the women's Formula kite event. Lauriane Nolot had fallen in one of the final races but her earlier results gave her the silver medal. The Dutch surfer, Annelous Lammerts, took the bronze medal.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b "Paris Olympics sailing: GB's Ellie Aldridge wins gold in women's kite final". BBC Sport. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ "Ellie Aldridge | Team GB". www.teamgb.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "Eleanor Aldridge". World Sailing. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
- ^ "Ellie Aldridge | Team GB". www.teamgb.com. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
- ^ "America Wins But British Kite Foiler Ellie Aldridge Takes Silver at the 2021 Formula Kite World Championships". afloat.ie. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "2022 KiteFoil World Series Traunsee - Overall". www.sail-world.com. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
- ^ "Poole sailor Ellie seals statement silver ahead of Olympics". Bournemouth Echo. 25 May 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Meet the team: Ellie Aldridge". British Sailing Team. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Katie Dabson and the power of the GB Formula Kite girls". East Lothian Courier. 19 March 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ "The GB Kite Girls introduce you to their new Olympic sailing class | Team GB". www.teamgb.com. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
- ^ "2023 Europeans". Welcome to the IKA Formula Kite Class. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ^ a b Rice, James (27 October 2023). "Team GB kite foiler Ellie Aldridge on how she will handle Olympic pressure Team GB kite foiler Ellie Aldridge on how she will handle Olympic pressure". Buzz. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Sailing's Lily Young confident after 2024 Formula Kite Europeans". Northwich Guardian. 29 March 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "Poole sailor Ellie seals statement silver ahead of Olympics". Bournemouth Echo. 25 May 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
- ^ "World Siling Confirms Formula Kite in Paris 2024". Surfer Today. 2019.
- ^ a b Bloom, Ben (4 August 2024). "Ellie Aldridge: The Olympian who avoids cardio work". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 August 2024.