New sailing partner for Olympic champion Eilidh McIntyre as focus turns towards Paris 2024

The 27-year-old claimed gold in the women’s 470 event at the Tokyo Games last summer alongside Hannah Mills.

As a result, she followed in the footsteps of her dad Mike, who won the Star class at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

The pair are the only father and daughter duo to have won gold for Team GB in Olympic history.

Mills, who became the most successful female Olympic sailor in history off the back of the win, subsequently retired from competitive action to concentrate on the SailGP circuit and her environmental campaigning.

For Paris 2024, 470 crews must be mixed – and McIntyre has now forged a partnership with Martin Wrigley, training partner to Tokyo 2020 Olympians Luke Patience and Chris Grube.

‘Martin and I have spoken for years about the 470 going mixed and partnering up so it was kind of inevitable,’ said McIntyre, a member of the Hayling Island Sailing Club who lives in Old Portsmouth.

‘For me since the Games I’ve struggled with my drive but I think it’s slowly creeping back.

‘I’m loving the new challenge, it’s a fun change and the class becoming mixed is a totally new dynamic.

‘We’re having fun and slowly figuring stuff out so let’s see the season goes.’

Wrigley, 24, from Hereford, and McIntyre are no strangers.

‘It’s really exciting to be teaming up with Eilidh this cycle, not only because of the success and experience she brings, but because she’s also been a big part of my journey in Olympic sailing,’ he remarked.

‘When I first joined the team Eilidh took me under her wing a bit and even came sailing with me in Weymouth during the depths of winter!

‘As soon as the decision was made to go mixed we immediately joked about rekindling our partnership from the years before, so it will be really cool to see how it pans out.’