Ben Ainslie today announced his retirement from Olympic sailing. At London 2012 Ainslie cemented his place in sporting history by securing his fourth consecutive gold medal, it was the culmination of an Olympic career spanning sixteen years. The final gold medal also entered Ainslie into the history books making the most successful Olympic sailor of all time.

For Ainslie the decision was not an easy one: “When I look back there are so many special memories; from that first medal in Atlanta 16 years ago to carrying the flag at the closing ceremony in London 2012. London was an incredibly special Olympics, competing on home waters and in front of a home crowd, I don¹t think anything will be able to top that experience. But you have to move forwards and it is time to move onto the next challenge in my career.”

Ainslie has setup a team to challenge for the 35th America’s Cup. This announcement marks the start of a new chapter in his career as he now shifts his focus to winning the America’s Cup and bringing the oldest trophy in sport back to Britain. Conceived by the British in 1851, the America¹s Cup is the only international sporting trophy Great Britain has never won.

The team has taken the first steps on this road with J.P.Morgan who is title sponsor to the Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) AC45 team, who are competing in the America’s Cup World Series (ACWS) 2012-13. The team has shown great promise finishing second at the last ACWS event in October.

“The America’s Cup has always been a goal for me. With the new format of the America’s Cup World Series and the increased commercialisation of the event, I feel confident that we can continue to build towards creating a commercially viable team, with the ultimate goal of challenging for the 35th America’s Cup.”

The next ten months will see Ainslie train and compete with the America’s Cup defenders ORACLE Team USA in San Francisco, where he will gain invaluable experience helming one of two AC72s in the build up to the 34th America¹s Cup in September 2013.

Olympic medals

2012 ­ GOLD Olympics Finn class, London

2008 ­ GOLD Olympics Finn class, Beijing

2004 ­ GOLD Olympics Finn class, Athens

2000 ­ GOLD Olympics Laser class, Sydney

1996 ­ SILVER Olympics Laser class, Atlanta

World Titles

2012 ­ GOLD Finn World Championships

2008 ­ GOLD Finn World Championships

2005 ­ GOLD Finn World Championships

2004 ­ GOLD Finn World Championships

2003 ­ GOLD Finn World Championships

2002 ­ GOLD Finn World Championships

1999 ­ GOLD Laser World Championships

1998 ­ GOLD Laser World Championships

1995 ­ GOLD ISAF Youth World Championships (Laser class)

1993 ­ GOLD Laser Radial World Championships

European Titles

2008 ­ GOLD Finn European Championships

2005 ­ GOLD Finn European Championships

2003 ­ GOLD Finn European Championships

2002 ­ GOLD Finn European Championships

2000 ­ GOLD Laser European Championships

1999 ­ GOLD Laser European Championships

1998 ­ GOLD Laser European Championships

1996 ­ GOLD Laser European Championships

1993 ­ GOLD Laser Radial European Championships