Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2012 | Page 37

INTERVIEW

Island sailor Shirley
knows what it's like
to have golden touch
Exclusive interview by Peter White
The long-awaited 2012 Olympics are
fast approaching, and for hundreds of
aspiring competitors the pressure is
beginning to mount.
Inevitably the spotlight will fall very
much on the British team, who will be
competing on home territory for the
first time since the last Games were
held here in 1948.
One person who knows what it is
like to prepare for the Olympics, and
emerge victorious, is Island sailor
Shirley Robertson, OBE. Shirley not
only competed in four Olympics,
but re-wrote the history books by
becoming the first British woman
to strike gold at consecutive Games
- Sydney in 2000 and then Athens,
2004.
Shirley, who lives with her family
in Cowes, talked exclusively to Island
Life about her incredible successes
on the water, and the demands medal
hopefuls will be facing this summer.
There was a fairly tentative start to
Shirley’s own sailing career. She was
born in Dundee, and started sailing
when just seven. She recalled: “My
dad built a small dinghy which we

sailed in a local Loch, and it was very
much a family club. But I was quite
competitive at an early vR