Torben Grael

Torben Grael was the first sailor to win five Olympic medals, although the mark has been equalled, and several others have won more gold medals than Grael’s two. Grael learned sailing at a young age, when his Danish grandfather used to take him out sailing. His first world title came in 1978, when he won the junior Snipe event. He would later win the senior title in 1983 and 1987. Meanwhile, Grael also started to sail on the Brazilian Soling team, winning the 1983 Pan American Games title, while finishing runner up at the 1984 Olympics and 1985 Worlds. Grael’s main focus then switched to the two-person Star. At the Seoul Games, he won a bronze with Nelson Falcão, after which his partner became Marcelo Ferreira. Together, they won two Olympic titles (1996 and 2004) and a bronze in 2000. Remarkably, they only won one world title (in 1990), although they earned five silver and two bronze medals at the World Championships between 1991 and 2005. Grael is also an accomplished ocean sailor, most notably, winning the 2008/9 Volvo Ocean Race as skipper of the Ericsson 4 team, winning five legs during the race. Torben’s brother, Lars Grael is also an Olympic sailor, having won two bronze medals in the Tornado class.