Emma Wilson, 24, is a British windsurfer who won a bronze medal in the RS:X event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She won the 2022 and 2023 IQFoil European Championships and Qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024.
Emma Wilson Qualified For the 2024 Paris Olympics
Just a year out from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, British windsurfer Emma Wilson has continued her run of strong results, claiming a silver medal at the recent iQFOiL Windsurfing World Championships in Lanzarote, Spain.
The event introduced a unique and challenging new racing format for the iQFOiL class. During the qualifying races, Wilson dominated by winning an impressive 15 out of 20 races.
Wilson battled to secure the silver medal in the final races, finishing behind gold medalist Sharon Kantor of Israel.
Wilson punched her ticket to Paris 2024 last summer by qualifying for a Team GB spot with her bronze medal finish at the World Sailing Championships.
Emma Wilson takes the SLiver Medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics Games Test event in Marseille
Emma Wilson secured silver at this month’s iQFOiL World Cup event in Marseille viewed as a test for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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“I’m pretty broken,” she confessed, highlighting the event’s physical and emotional toll. “It was a long week.” After prevailing in the semifinals, Wilson started strong in the medal round. “I had a really good start, I just sent it,” she said. A lone miscue during a gybe maneuver proved the difference, yet could not diminish her pride.
The Christchurch windsurfer said:
Wilson has enjoyed a red-hot start to the 2023 season, having now medaled in all three of her international events, including IQFOiL European Championship bronze.
Her steady run of podium finishes has positioned Wilson as a top gold medal threat in the build-up to Paris 2024 when she will look to upgrade from the RS:X bronze she won last summer in Enoshima.
Emma Wilson Growing up
Emma Wilson was born on April 7, 1999, in Nottingham, he spent most of her childhood growing up in the sailing hub of Christchurch, Dorset. The harbor town on England’s southern coast provided an ideal environment for nurturing her eventual sailing dreams.
With the sea in her blood, a young Wilson took to the waves, following the path of her sailing mother, Penny Wilson (née Way). The former Olympian, born April 3, 1962, competed for Britain in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Games before retiring in ’96. She now coaches rising windsurfing talents in addition to supporting Emma’s career.
Older brother Dan Wilson also made sailing his life’s passion. Now 21, he represents Britain in international Men’s RS:X windsurfing competitions. Like his sister, Dan came of age windsurfing the local waters of Christchurch harbor.
Emma Wilson Sailing Career
Emma Wilson Early Career
Emma Wilson began in competitive windsurfing around age 7 when she first learned to sail. More interested in beach activities, her perspective shifted by age 10. Wilson watched the Olympics on television, fascinated by the spectacle. That year she earned selection to the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) Zone squad.
Coach Leo McCallin described a 15-year-old Wilson’s performance as among the finest he had ever seen.
This rare blend of precision and grace caught the eye of British rowing legend Sir Steven Redgrave. In 2015, he selected the 16-year-old as the winner of SportsAid’s “One-to-Watch Award”, recognizing Wilson as a rising athlete to watch regardless of sport.
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Wilson scored her first major victory at just age 12, claiming gold at the U15 Techno 293 World Championships.
She added to her junior championship haul by winning the U15 RS:X class in 2012. By her mid-teens, Wilson trained alongside 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Bryony Shaw.
Aged 17 in 2016, Wilson finally broke through at the senior level, winning her first of two consecutive Youth Sailing World Championships in the RS:X class. Capping her rapid ascent, she took home 2017/18 UK Windsurfing Association Windsurfer of the Year honors.
Professional Career
Emma Wilson wasted little time herself on the senior professional circuit. By 2018, the teenager was winning races at elite World Championship regattas.
That year at Worlds in Aarhus, Denmark, Wilson stunned the field by capturing the opening RS:X race dominantly. She posted a winning margin of over one minute. Though eventually finishing 4th overall, the result served notice of her arrival.
Wilson proved consistency across sailing’s premier tours that season, taking 3rd at the RS:X European Championships and 6th in the Sailing World Cup stop in Japan.
She continued her top-class form at the 2019 RS:X European Championships, ranking 2nd among Europeans and 3rd overall against a stacked field in Mallorca.
When Wilson earned selection to Team Great Britain for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she was set to compete at age 21 against rivals with far more experience.
She took command of the overall race lead by winning two of three events on Day 3 at Enoshima Harbor. Though eventually overtaken by China’s Lu Yunxiu, Wilson held on to capture the bronze, becoming Britain’s youngest-ever female Olympic sailing medalist.
After medaling in her first two international events, including 2023 European Championship bronze, she appears to carry over her winning ways across classes, establishing status as one of world sailing’s most dominant crossover athletes.
