Sam Sills (born 15 April 1993) is a British sailor. He competed in the IQFoil event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where he reached the semi-finals.[1]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 15 April 1993 Launceston, Cornwall, United Kingdom |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Sailing |
Early life
editSills grew up in Launceston in Cornwall, and learnt to sail on beaches and lakes in South West England.[2] He attended Tavistock College.[3]
He has younger identical twin sisters, Imogen and Saskia, who are also professional windsurfers.[4]
Career
editSills won the Male U15 Techno 293 World Championship in 2007, and the Male U17 World Championship in the same competition in 2009.[5] He left the British sailing setup after becoming dissatisfied with his situation, and moved to Scandinavia, sailing part-time whilst working in the naval architecture sector.[6]
He returned to competitive sailing in 2020, after it was announced that IQFoil would feature in the 2024 Summer Olympics.[7] Having lived in a van for a year in order to afford sailing equipment, he finished seventh in the World Championships that year, and went on to be the leading British rider in the European Championships.[2] He went on to finish fifth at the 2023 World Championships in Lake Garda.[8]
Sills took part in the Men's IQFoil event at the 2024 Summer Olympics. He qualified from the preliminary race in eighth position,[8] and finished as runner-up in the quarter-final,[9] however failed to advance through the semi-final.[10]
References
edit- ^ "SILLS Sam". Olympics.com. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Sam Sills: How Team GB windsurfer slept in van to try to qualify for Paris Olympics". BBC Sport. 2 July 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ Kendall, Aaron (10 March 2016). "Sam Sills sets sail towards Olympic shores". Tavistock Times Gazette. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ "Saskia Sills". www.bournemouth.ac.uk. Bournemouth University. July 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ "Champions". Techno293. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ Bloom, Ben (21 July 2024). "From living in a van to Olympics contender: GB windsurfer Sam Sills". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ "Sam Sills: Windsurfer targets Olympics medal after return to sport in new class". BBC Sport. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Sam Sills excited for the windsurfing medal races after qualifying eighth". Eurosport. 2 August 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ "Men's Windsurfing Quarterfinal - Sailing - Paris 2024 Olympics". Olympics.com. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
- ^ "Men's Windsurfing Semifinal - Sailing - Paris 2024 Olympics". Olympics.com. Retrieved 3 August 2024.