Eilidh McIntyre is best known for winning a Gold Medal in the Women’s 470 Sailing class in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. In 1988, her father won an Olympic Gold Medal at the Seoul Olympics, making them the first British parent and child to win Olympic Gold. Inspired by her father’s Olympic journey from an early age, Eilidh set her sights on an Olympic Gold. As an elite athlete, Eilidh speaks about her experiences overcoming adversity, achieving peak performance and building cohesive teams.
Experiencing her first boat ride on a catamaran at just eight months old, Eilidh began sailing at an early age. Living on Hayling Island and surrounded by water, she was soon able to sail independently and joined the British Sailing Team aged 15. Over the next 12 years, she became an incredibly talented sailor, winning her first senior medal at 18. Alongside teammate Sophie Weguelin, Eilidh won the US Sailing’s Miami Olympic Classes Regatta in 2014. The pair went on to win bronze medals at the 2013 and 2015 470 European Championships and narrowly missed out on competing in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Turning obstacles into an opportunity, Eilidh began a strict training regimen with a desire to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She joined Hannah Mills in 2017, earning silver at Thessaloniki and winning Gold in the Enoshima 470 World Championships. In 2019, they were rewarded for their efforts when they were selected to represent Team GB in the Women’s Sailing 407 class at the Tokyo Olympics Games 2020. However, the Covid pandemic proved to be a setback, delaying the Olympic Games by a year. A tragedy for an athlete that had trained for years to reach peak form, but one that did not hold Eilidh back when she won Gold in the summer of 2021.
Before announcing her retirement from the sport in 2023, Eilidh was appointed MBE for services to sailing, and in 2021 won the World Sailor of the Year Award. As someone who has lived in the shadow of her father, Eilidh discusses the idea of living in the shadow of someone more successful in her podcast Out of the Shadows. Having overcome adversity to achieve peak performance as an elite athlete, Eilidh shares her ground-breaking insights in her speaking engagements, helping audiences to rally through setbacks and turn obstacles into opportunities.
