Graham Porter Biehl (born August 31, 1986, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

) is an American

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

. In 2003, in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Russia, he won the Junior World Championship of the

Snipe A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/ camouflaging plumage. ''Gallinago'' snipe have a nearly ...

class as a crew of Mikee Anderson-Mitterling, who was elected

ICSA College Sailor of the Year ICSA College Sailor of the Year, also known as Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year because of the sponsorship by Marlow Ropes, is an award annually presented, since 1968, by the United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Acade ...

in 2005. They were the second American team in history to do so, after Steve Bloemeke and Gregg Morton in 1982. Afterwards, he specialized in the

470 class The 470 (Four-Seventy) is a double-handed monohull planing dinghy with a centreboard, Bermuda rig, and centre sheeting. Equipped with a spinnaker, trapeze and a large sail-area-to-weight ratio, it is designed to plane easily, and good teamwork i ...

, with teammate Stuart McNay. Biehl was ranked among the top 10 in the world for two-person dinghy class by the

International Sailing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

, following his successes at the North American Championships and ISAF Sailing World Cup Series in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, United States, in 2012. Graham is the nephew of Mark Reynolds, a three-time Olympic medalist and four-time Olympian in sailing who won gold in the mixed two-person keelboat at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. He has been training for

San Diego Yacht Club San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) is a private yacht club in San Diego, California. Founded in 1886, it is one of the oldest in the United States. The club won the America's Cup in 1987, 1988, and 1992. History In June 1886, local boating enthusi ...

throughout most of his sporting career. During his Olympic campaigns, he and McNay were coached by Nigel Cochrane and Romain Bonnaud.

Olympics

He represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, along with his partner Stuart McNay in two editions of the Olympic Games (2008 and 2012).

Beijing 2008

Biehl made his official debut at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, where he paired up with skipper Stuart McNay in the men's 470 class. The American duo finished thirteenth in a ten-round opening series with a net score of 105, edging out Israel's

Gideon Kliger Gideon "Gidi" Kliger (; born March 30, 1980) is an Israeli Olympic sailor, who is a three-time bronze medallist at the sailing world championships. Biography Kliger was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. He started sailing and competing when he was 8 ye ...

and

Udi Gal Udi Gal (; born June 11, 1979) is an Israeli Olympic sailor, who is a sailing world championship three-time bronze medalist. Biography Gal is Jewish, and was born in Tel Aviv, Israel. He started sailing at 8 years of age, and started racing at ...

by a tight, three-point gap from the final standings.

London 2012

At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Biehl competed for the second time after qualifying the men's 470 class by finishing thirteenth and receiving a berth from the ISAF World Championships in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Teaming again with McNay in the opening series, the American duo sailed from behind to post a net score of 108 points and establish a satisfying fourteenth-place finish in fleet of twenty-seven boats.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Biehl, Graham 1986 births American male sailors (sport) Living people Olympic sailors for the United States Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – 470 Sailors at the 2012 Summer Olympics – 470 San Diego Yacht Club sailors Snipe class sailors Snipe class junior world champions Sailors (sport) from San Diego 21st-century American sportsmen