Saskia Clark (born 23 August 1979 in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

) is a British sailor and Olympic Gold medalist. She competed in 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 ...

and she was selected, along with Hannah Mills, to sail in the 470 Women's class for

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

. They went on to win silver at the 2012 Olympic games and a gold medal at the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

games.

Life

Saskia started sailing at Dabchicks Sailing Club in an Optimist when she was 8 years old She came 6th in the 2008 Summer Olympics sailing in the 470 class with Christina Bassadone. She was set to sail with Sarah Ayton in the 2012 Summer Olympics, but Sarah retired to focus on her family life. Saskia was then paired with Hannah Mills. At the 2011 Skandia

Sail for Gold Sail for Gold is an annual sailing regatta in Weymouth, the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coa ...

Regatta and the 2011 Weymouth & Portland International Regatta, Saskia won a Silver medal in the 470 Women class. After they suffered a black flag in the first race of the championships, Saskia and her helm Hannah claimed Gold at the 2012

470 World Championships The 470 World Championships have been held every year since 1970 and organised by the club on behalf of the International 470 Class Association and recognized by World Sailing. When the Championship forms part of the ISAF Sailing World Championshi ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Saskia was awarded a Honorary MSc in 2013 and an Honorary Doctorate in 2017 by the

University of Chichester The University of Chichester is a public university located in West Sussex, England, which became a university in 2005. Campuses are based in the city of Chichester and the nearby coastal resort of Bognor Regis and an associate campus for comm ...

. Clark was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to sailing.

References

External links

*
470 Girls Official Website

RYA Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Saskia 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Colchester Olympic sailors for Great Britain English female sailors (sport) Sailors at the 2008 Summer Olympics – 470 Sailors at the 2012 Summer Olympics – 470 Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in sailing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics 420 class world champions 470 class world champions Sailors at the 2016 Summer Olympics – 470 Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain ISAF World Sailor of the Year (female) Members of the Order of the British Empire World champions in sailing for Great Britain People educated at Colchester County High School 21st-century English sportswomen