Our Olympic stars
RS:X, WOMEN
Emma Wilson, age 21
As one of the youngest sailors, the postponement year has been good for Emma’s preparation. She has been in great form, always mixing with her main rivals from Holland, France and Israel. The big unknown is Lu from China, absent from international competition for two years. Emma is the daughter of windsurfer Penny Wilson, who competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.
What advice would you give your younger self?
“It doesn’t matter what age you are, you can still make it. Don’t listen to people saying you are too young. I was young to move onto the RS:X at 14. You normally go when you’re about 18. But in fact it helped me because I got so much experience. If I hadn’t done that, there is no way I’d be in this position now. When I went to the Santander Worlds in 2014, I was 15 and it was the hardest competition I’d ever done. I was always about fifth from the back, but you learn so much more in that situation than being in your age group and doing well all the time. It’s important to do the age group stuff as well, but just keep all the learning channels going.”
RS:X, MEN
Tom Squires, age 27
You may have seen Tom’s popular vlogs on YouTube. The windsurf veteran excels in the windy stuff and has moved closer to being a good all-rounder in recent months. Expect a strong challenge from the
