- Date of Birth:
- 15 July 1968 (40)
- Sport:
- Yachting
- Home Town:
- Cowes, Isle of Wight
Shirley Robertson is one of Britain and Scotland’s greatest ever Olympians. She won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games.
Shirley started sailing at the age of 7 in a Mirror Miracle, which her father built from a kit in the garage of their home in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. She very quickly got the bug and her Olympic quest started after graduating from Heriot-Watt University in 1990.
Robertson sailed in the Europe class at the 1992 Barcelona Games finishing ninth, improving to fourth at the 1996 Atlanta Games where she was edged out of the medals by American Courtenay Becker-Day by two points.
However, by the late 1990s, she was one of the top Europe class racers in the world, having won silver medals at the 1998, 1999 and 2000 World Championships. Her excellent form continued into the Millennium Olympic Games in Sydney where she won her first Olympic gold medal - the first British woman ever to win an Olympic sailing gold medal.
Following her success in 2000, Shirley decided she needed a new challenge. In 2001 she switched to the new Yngling class and finished third at the 2002 Olympic Test Event and won the 2003 Pre-Olympic regatta.
At the 2004 Olympic regatta in Athens, Shirley and her crew showed their superior skills by winning from start to finish, fending off tough competition from the Danish and Ukraines to win Team GB’s first Gold with a day to spare.
In 2000 Shirley was voted ISAF 2000 World Female of the Year and she was awarded an MBE for her services to British Sailing. After the 2000 Games, Robertson took a short break from sailing and married Jamie Boag in June 2001. 2005 saw Shirley awarded with an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list. As navigator/helm, Shirley was also an integral part of the Patches campaign, which dominated Cowes in 05 and finished Runner-Up in the Fastnet.
Shirley is an excellent corporate speaker and ambassador. She has worked with many blue-chip companies who use her for team building/customer programs as well as for motivational speeches at sales conferences and award ceremonies. She has also worked as a presenter and commentator for the likes of the BBC and CNN. Shirley gave birth to twins (Killian & Annabel) in July. She returned to full training in September 2006 and competed in her first competition in October, the Sail for Gold Regatta, where she and her crew won Gold.
Shirley will be at the Olympics Games in Beijing as the BBC Olympic Sailing Correspondent.
Achievements:
2007 3rd – Skandia Cowes Week, Extreme 40 Class
2006 1st – Sail for Gold Regatta
2005 2nd - Fastnet Race
2005 6th - Round the Island Race
2004 Gold - Olympic Games, Athens
2004 1st - Women’s Europe class, Olympic Qualifier
2003 Gold - Pre-Olympics, Athens
2003 Bronze - SPA Olympic Class Regatta, Holland
2003 4th - Olympic Class Week, Hyeres
2003 Gold - Princess Sophia Trophy, Palma
2003 Gold - Olympic Class Week, Barcelona
2002 Bronze - Olympic Test Event, Athens
2002 16th - Yngling World Championships
2001 14th - Yngling World Championships
2000 Gold - Olympic Games, Sydney
2000 Silver - Europe World Championships
1999 Bronze - Pre-Olympics, Sydney - Bronze
1999 Silver - Europe European Championships
1999 Bronze - Europe World Championships
1998 Silver - Europe World Championships
1996 4th - Olympic Games, Savannah
1992 9th - Olympic Games, Barcelona
