Elvstrøm, Paul

▪ Danish yachtsman

born February 25, 1928, Hellerup, Denmark

 

 Danish yachtsman who dominated Olympic Finn class sailing between 1948 and 1960. He won four consecutive gold medals in that event and competed in the Olympics as late as the 1988 Games in Seoul, South Korea. He is considered the greatest sailor in Olympic history.

      Elvstrøm was 20 years old when he first competed in international yachting at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. After five races Elvstrøm was in eighth place and trailed by more than 800 points, but he won the last two races to gain the gold medal. In earning his second gold medal at the 1952 Games in Helsinki, Finland, Elvstrøm won four races and finished almost 3,000 points ahead of the other competitors. He handily won the gold medal for a third time at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, taking the last four races. He won his last gold medal at the 1960 Games in Rome.

      Elvstrøm's success and celebrity brought personal stress, and, as a result, he chose to attend the 1964 Games in Tokyo only as an observer. He returned to Olympic competition in 1968 but did not medal; at the 1972 Games in Munich, West Germany, under the pressures of competition and a failing sail-making business, he suffered a nervous breakdown. Elvstrøm returned to the Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles, where he sailed the Tornado catamaran with his daughter Trine, narrowly missing a bronze medal. He competed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul with his daughter Stine but did not medal. In 1996 Elvstrøm was named Danish Sportsman of the Century.

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