William "Bill" Bentsen (February 18, 1930 – December 25, 2020) was 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'' ...

and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

champion. Bentsen was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He received a gold medal in the ''

Soling The Soling is an Keelboat, open keelboat that holds the World Sailing "International class" status. The class was used from the Sailing at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1972 Olympics until the Sailing at the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2000 Olympics as "Sa ...

class'' at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Bentsen was inducted into the

National Sailing Hall of Fame The Sailing Museum and National Sailing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes sailing and racing by recognizing individuals who have contributed to the sport, highlighting sailing's contribution to the American culture ...

in 2017.

References

External links

* * 1930 births 2020 deaths American male sailors (sport) Olympic gold medalists for the United States in sailing Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in sailing Sailors at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Flying Dutchman Sailors at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Soling Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in sailing Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-yachtracing-Olympic-medalist-stub