Looking back to the 2024 Paris Olympics, we spoke to British Sailing Team hopefuls Emma Wilson & Sam Sills about their build up to the games.
Words: Emma Wilson and Sam Sills.
Photos: Sailing Energy.
When I first heard I was selected for the Olympics I was over the moon. Obviously, I had a really good year as I was on the podium at every event, so I knew I was in with a chance. You don’t really believe it until they ring you. It was a relief more than anything as once I knew I was going I could start planning how I am going to approach the games. I am happy with all my recent results. I came second at the worlds; it was a bit hard to take the final race, but I learned so much that I can take a positive from that. In Palma, I came twelfth, which is not great on paper, but again there was a lot learned and we did not complete so many races. I don’t think you can read too much into the result. I am now motivated to keep pushing. It has been really fun training with Matt Barton, Duncan and Isla. We are a great group and also have so much fun along the way. Whatever happens at the Olympics, I have enjoyed the whole journey leading up to it. With Sam Ross as our coach, it has just been good vibes.
The medal race is something I get asked about a lot. It is definitely a different format. It is just one race to decide it all. I have been training hard for it. All I can do is give it my best. I just want to keep learning all the way up to the Olympics and try and execute a good race if I make it that far. Whatever happens, happens! For me now I just have the mindset of just trying to enjoy it all and work as hard as I can in training. I will enter the Olympics knowing I have done everything I can and I also know I have had a good time. I will have no regrets.
The mental side of the sport is almost more important than the physical side. Everyone trains physically, and everyone is fit, but the mental side is a bit more unspoken about. It is definitely something I have always been really keen to try and get my head around. Even more so at the Olympics – it will be so important. I did a few little things to help me get in the right mindset. Overall, it is just remembering why I windsurf and trying not to forget that it is actually a fun sport, so I should not take it too seriously. I love to go foil tacking before the start and sometimes Sam has to remind me which way I am going to go up the beat or whatever. You never want to lose the little kid inside you, which is why you originally love windsurfing and that is the most important thing.
Our nutrition is obviously important. For me now it is kind of nice on iQFOiL because on RS:X I always had to lose weight. I think I was 56 kilos for the last Olympics in Tokyo. Now I am ten kilos heavier than that so I can eat what I want, when I want. It is more about trying to eat at the right time, so I have enough energy to fuel the training that I do. I kind of just eat normal food and don’t over think it. I have been known to eat spaghetti Bolognese every night at the World Championships. I feel once you find something that works for you then you can stick to it. So, maybe at the Olympics, it will be spag bol again!
So far, I have given absolutely everything into this Olympic campaign. I want to know that I have entered the Olympics and given my absolute best in the training leading up to the games. I also want to enjoy the whole experience. My goal as a kid was to win an Olympic Gold medal, but you can’t control that part of it. All I can control is trying to race my best and have a smile on my face during the whole experience. If I do that, I think I will look back when I am older and say ‘You know what, I loved every minute of the process’ That is my goal. After the World Championships, my head space changed a little bit. I was so upset after winning all week to lose it in the last race. You just have to have some perspective at the end of the day.
We are all putting one hundred percent into the Olympics. Sam Ross and I are just working as hard as we can. We don’t stop thinking about the Olympics at all. That is the best thing about it, it is like a dream and we both want to put in as much effort as possible. When I started on iQFOiL I really wasn’t sure if I would go to these Olympics. I said I would try it and even if I miss out on Paris, it would give me a good chance for LA. The fact that I even made Paris has been pretty cool. It has been a tonne of hard work. We have a really good support team around us. I just love the fact all my training partners, Sam Ross and myself are all giving it everything, that is all I can ask for. We will see how the games go.
I started windsurfing because I enjoy it. I don’t see how that is going to change even though I am going to the Olympics. I want to keep that at the forefront of my mind – always. Even if I am tired and grumpy, I try to keep a smile on my face. I just want to enjoy what I am doing.
After the Olympics, I am keen to try the PWA. I have always looked up to that side of racing when I was younger, and I remember watching the slalom in Fuerte on YouTube. Now it is on foiling I think I would love to race on the PWA if I can get some equipment. I would love to go and give it a go and do something different for a bit. It will be really hard, but it would also be really fun. I love to go fast and escape the Olympic scene for a little bit. So, I would love to go and do a few PWA races and go send it for a bit.
When I heard I was selected for the Olympics it was a moment of absolute relief. It was a realisation and a happiness that I had achieved something I had dreamed of for so long. Also, at the time I was totally exhausted as it was at the end of our trials process. In a nutshell it was absolute joy and relief.
My recent results this year have not exactly gone to plan, but at the same time, we have worked on all the things we wanted to. I think we are prepared for these Olympic games. We have been focusing on areas that hopefully will have us at full strength for the games. It was an odd season for me, I would have liked to be on the podium at every event, but it didn’t go that way. We still learned a lot and it was part of a big process. I hope that we have done a good job, and it will all come good for the games. We will see. The only thing that is important is the games right now and we have got a good plan.
That is the Olympics this year, the Medal Race. This is what we are dealing with right now. That is what we have to overcome, and I am preparing for that. I think it is intense. It can be tough. The best sailors normally rise to the top, so the only goal is to make that race, so you guarantee yourself a medal and then fight for which colour. It is exciting. I just hope we get some good wind and we have some epic racing. I hope it is good for the sport. It always depends on where you are as to how you feel about the Medal Race. If you are winning it is obviously yours to lose. You have to re-do the whole event in one race. It is difficult to deal with, but I think personally I love the pressure and it brings out the best in me. I am super excited for this moment to be honest. When you go in tenth and then suddenly you are equal fourth, it is also very exciting because anyone can win on that day. It is exciting and it creates a lot of drama. Probably seven out of the ten people will be upset and three of them will be happy. It is quite savage, but we have just got to play the game, enjoy the process and be ready for it.
Just being in control of the mental side is the key. In the past, I have done well under pressure. I think I quite like it. I don’t like saying those things to journalists because you never know if it will bring you some bad karma. In the past, pressure has been a positive thing. It can take a hell of a lot out of you though. The build-up is also a lot of pressure. The event can be exhausting, so you need to be ready for that. You need to be on top of your game, so you can deal with it. If you are mentally prepared, you generally excel and let your competitors make the mistakes. I just want to do my best. I will put everything I can into being totally prepared. Then we will let the universe decide the rest. There are so many variables in the sport that all you can do is go into it knowing you have prepared to the best of your ability. You can’t control everything, but you can make sure that you are totally prepared and let the universe handle the rest of it basically.
Nutrition is massively important and underpins everything. What you eat is what fuels you throughout the day and helps you recover at night, so nutrition is very, very important. I have an amazing setup with Nigel Mitchell, one of the top UK nutritionists, actually he is one of the best in the world and he is guiding me. He has helped organize a student fresh out of university to come and live with me for three months – doing my meal prep and helping with my nutritional support. He has been studying for four years, so that has been amazing, his name is George, and he has been staying with me for ten days now. He is doing an insane job and I really feel the energy coming back. That has been a real big deal. I hope it will help a lot for the games. My trainer, Leo, is on a strict diet of croissants and baguettes in France, so I am not quite sure if that is helping him (lol). Having the right people around me to guide me is super valuable and worth the investment.
The ultimate goal is to win. I am already happy just going to the games. It has been a life goal for such a long time. I won’t be sad whatever happens because I have put absolutely everything I could into this campaign. I know that I could not have done any more, so I am content already. But I am going there to win. I am doing everything I can to do that. That is what I am there for. That is why Team GB have sent me. Gold is what I am going to try and deliver. You never know, there are so many variables. It is a bit of a lottery with the equipment, a lottery with the wind, and a lottery with the Medal Race, so all you can do is try to be as prepared as you possibly can. I have been living in Marseille, for three months before the Olympics, getting on top of all the details. Knowing that I have done the prep and all the hard work, makes me happy and relaxed, so I am going into the games with a solid mindset. I feel positive. I am going there to win!
You would not believe me if I told you all that has gone into my preparation for the Olympics. It has been insane. It has been a really, really long journey. I have been windsurfing competitively since I was ten or eleven so that is a good twenty-one years of work. Twenty-one years of having to achieve results, having to perform to stay funded and stay in the team. I think since I left university, there was a big struggle for six years when I was not really the right size for RS:X. Everything was really difficult. I did not record that many good results and I funded it myself through design work, which was tough.
When the iQFOiL came in, I had to save up pretty heavily to be able to compete. I took some big risks. In 2020, the summer we bought the iQFOiL boards, I remember with COVID, I did not have any work at the time, so I didn’t have much cash. I think I had £10,000 in my bank and the iQFOiL gear was £9,000, but I decided to bite the bullet and go for it. I almost gave it back at the time as I was so nervous. I went on the water shaking with nerves.
A week later I went to Silvaplana, Switzerland, and managed to record a decent result which helped me get on to the British Sailing Team. That was a stressful, risky moment, but it paid off. From there it has just been building up to the Olympics really. I lived in my van in the car park at Portland for that year, so I could minimise the costs. That was really rough, but it was totally worth it now. The sacrifices have been massive. Last year my uncle was sadly passing away just before our Olympic trials – so I had to make the choice if I went home to say goodbye, or I stayed and tried to achieve this goal. I spoke with him on the phone, and he told me to absolutely not come home and instead to stay there and give them hell. I ended up staying, but it was really tough. It was another big sacrifice.
Most Christmas’ I have viewed as a good time to train rather than going home. I have always been training during those weeks, which has meant not really being with my family that much, which has also been tough and I hope this is all worth it.
The whole process is a choice, but there are a lot of sacrifices. You have to trade off something to achieve your goals. If you are trying to win the Olympics, you have to make those kinds of decisions a lot. To be honest, I really love what we are doing and I have so many good people around me who are supporting me. My family support me so much as well. It makes it all worthwhile and it is not so hard to go for it when people are completely behind you. So many people have got my back and that feels good. A lot of extra people have come on board this year to help me with my campaign. The CEO from Holiday Extras, Matthew Pack is an amazing windsurfer and has been on the water with me a couple of times. That has been a really special support and makes all the hard work worthwhile.
The post QUEST FOR GOLD: 2024 PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.
