Lymington sailor Hannah Snellgrove has been selected as the 11th sailor for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the British Olympic Association (BOA) announced on Tuesday. The 33-year-old will be competing in the women's dinghy class sailing the ILCA 6, formerly known as the Laser Radial, in Marseille this summer, taking on the world's best.
Snellgrove earned a country quota place for Team GB at the 2023 Sailing World Championships last August, finishing in 11th place, before securing her selection by finishing 10th at the 2024 World Championships last month. She joins a strong line-up of athletes, including Tokyo 2020 medalists John Gimson, Anna Burnet, and Emma Wilson, and two-time Olympian Saskia Tidey.
Snellgrove, who has also represented Britain at the Paris 2024 test event in Marseille and won a silver medal at the 2022 Princess Sofia Trophy regatta, expressed her delight at being selected for Team GB. "It's the biggest honour to be selected for Team GB," she said. "It's really humbling to think of all the things that people have done to help me during the course of my career."
Mark Robinson, RYA Performance Director and Team GB sailing team leader, praised Snellgrove's determination to reach this point. "It is a great pleasure to announce Hannah's selection to Team GB today," he said. "Such is the British Sailing Team's strength over many Olympic cycles, with only one representative allowed to represent Great Britain in each class at the Games, it is often a long journey for our sailors to reach this pinnacle. I am sure she will represent Team GB with this immense inner drive and will do us proud at Paris 2024."
Mark England, Team GB Chef de Mission, also congratulated Snellgrove on her selection. "Olympic selection is highly competitive, and Hannah has shown a huge amount of tenacity and resilience throughout her sailing career," he said. "I am delighted that she will be able to fulfill her Olympic ambitions this summer in Marseille."
Team GB has a rich history of excellence in Olympic sailing competition, having won 64 medals, including 31 golds, more than any other nation.
Former Team GB athletes Sir Ben Ainslie and Hannah Mills are the most successful male and female Olympic sailors of all time; Ainslie with four golds and a silver, Mills with two golds and a silver.
The sailors selected for Paris 2024 are:
- John Gimson and Anna Burnet – Mixed Multihull (Nacra 17)
- James Peters and Fynn Sterritt – Men’s Skiff (49er)
- Freya Black and Saskia Tidey – Women’s Skiff (49erFX)
- Emma Wilson – Women’s Windsurfing (iQFOiL)
- Sam Sills – Men’s Windsurfing (iQFOiL)
- Ellie Aldridge – Women’s Kite (Formula Kite)
- Michael Beckett – Men’s Dinghy (ILCA 7)
- Hannah Snellgrove – Women’s Dinghy (ILCA 6)