| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Great Britain |
| Sailing career | |
| Class(es) | 2.4mR OneDesign |
Medal record | |
Helena Lucas MBE (born 29 April 1975) is a British Paralympic sailor.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Great Britain |
| Sailing career | |
| Class(es) | 2.4mR OneDesign |
Medal record | |
Helena Lucas MBE (born 29 April 1975) is a British Paralympic sailor.
Lucas was born on 29 April 1975 in Redhill, Surrey, England. [1] She was born with a defect in both of her thumbs which makes her eligible to compete in Paralympic events. [2]
In 1996 she graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) degree in Yacht and Power Craft Design from Southampton Solent University. [1] [3] In 2013 she was awarded an honorary doctorate in sport from Southampton Solent University today in recognition of her outstanding contribution to sport [4] and an honorary doctorate degree from Bournemouth University. [5]
Lucas initially focused on competing in the 470 class in non-disabled competition, attempting to qualify to compete for Great Britain at both the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Games. After 2004 she switched to sailing in the 2.4mR class, a Paralympic event contested in a single-person keelboat. [1] In 2006, she stood in for Shirley Robertson as a member of the British crew in the Yngling event at a test event for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China; competing alongside Annie Lush and Lucy MacGregor, she won a silver medal. [1]
She represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, finishing in seventh position in the 2.4mR. [1]
Lucas was chosen to compete for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, again in the 2.4 mR – 1 person keelboat event. She was the last member of the British sailing team to be selected after the announcement of the 2.4 mR representative was delayed because of the close competition between Lucas and Megan Pascoe. [6] At the Games she was the only woman in the fleet of 16 sailors who contested the event. [7] [8] Heading into the final race she was in first place and held a nine-point lead over second-place sailor Heiko Kroger of Germany, which meant she was guaranteed at least a silver medal. Due to a lack of wind the races on the final day of competition were cancelled, meaning Lucas won the gold medal. She became the first British sailor ever to win a Paralympic gold medal. [9]
Lucas was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to sailing. [10] [11]
In April 2015, she became the first person named to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, [12] where she won a bronze medal in the 2.4 mR – 1 person keelboat. [13]
Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Great Britain sent a delegation of around 400, of which 212 were athletes, to compete in eighteen sports at the Games. The team was made up of athletes from the whole United Kingdom; athletes from Northern Ireland, who may elect to hold Irish citizenship under the pre-1999 article 2 of the Irish constitution, are able to be selected to represent either Great Britain or Ireland at the Paralympics. Additionally some British overseas territories compete separately from Britain in Paralympic competition.
Eighty athletes representing 25 countries in three keelboat classes - the 2.4mR, the SKUD 18, and the Sonar, took part in sailing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Sailing was held in two designated areas on the Yellow Sea, Qingdao, Shandong province, from September 8 to September 13.
Puerto Rico competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. The delegation consisted of three competitors, one track and field athlete, one sailor, and one sport shooter.
Singapore sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, represented by six athletes competing in four sports: swimming, sailing, equestrian and athletics. The country's flagbearer at the Games' opening ceremony was supposed to be Desiree Lim, a sailor. However, as the sailing events were held in Qingdao, it was Theresa Goh (swimming) who was the flagbearer on that day. The 2008 Summer Paralympics marked the first time Singapore had won a Paralympic medal of any kind.
Great Britain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012 as the host nation. A total of 288 athletes were selected to compete along with 13 other team members such as sighted guides. The country finished third in the medals table, behind China and Russia, winning 120 medals in total; 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze. Multiple medallists included cyclist Sarah Storey and wheelchair athlete David Weir, who won four gold medals each, and swimmer Stephanie Millward who won a total of five medals. Storey also became the British athlete with the most overall medals, 22, and equal-most gold medals, 11, in Paralympic Games history.
Daniel Fitzgibbon, is an Australian Paralympic sailor, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. He won gold medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics with partner Liesl Tesch in the two person SKUD 18.
Alexandra Rickham is a British Paralympic sailor.
Matthew Bugg is an Australian sailor. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the 2.4mR class sailing event. He won a bronze medal at the 2015 IFDS World Championships. He won a silver medal in the 2.4mR at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Annie Lush is an English sailor. She was born in Poole, Dorset.
Kate MacGregor is an English sailor. She was born in Poole, Dorset.
Lucy MacGregor is an English sailor. She was born in Poole, Dorset.
Alison Young is a British sailor. She competed in the Laser Radial class event at the 2012 Summer Olympics where she placed 5th.
Hannah Lucy Cockroft is a British wheelchair racer specialising in sprint distances in the T34 classification. She holds the world records for the 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres and 1500 metres in her classification and the Paralympic records at 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres and 800 metres. Competing for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she won two gold medals. She won three further gold medals at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Sailing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was held from 8–18 August at Marina da Gloria in Guanabara Bay. The sailing classes had two changes from the 2012 Summer Olympics events. There were 10 events.
Bethany Charlotte Firth, is a Northern Irish swimmer. Since 2014 she has competed for Great Britain; previously, Firth had represented Ireland. A six time Paralympic gold medalist, she has won gold in her specialist event - the 100 metres backstroke - for both Ireland at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and Great Britain at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics. These were in addition to the Mixed 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay S14 at the 2020 Games, and 200 metres medley and 200 metres freestyle for Great Britain at the 2016 Games, where she was the nation's most successful Paralympian with three golds and a silver medal. She competes in the S14 classification for athletes with an intellectual impairment.
Niki James Birrell is a British Paralympic sailor. Alongside Alexandra Rickham, he has won four IFDS World Championship titles and in the 2012 Summer Paralympics the pair took the bronze medal in the SKUD 18 two person keelboat class.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland competed, under the name Great Britain, at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places for which the team qualified were for six athletes in sailing events.
Stephen Thomas is a British Paralympic sailor. Thomas has represented Great Britain at three Summer Paralympics and with his colleagues John Robertson and Hannah Stodel has won multiple medals in the Mixed Sonar class at the Disabled Sailing World Championships, including gold in 2005 and 2006.
New Zealand competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. It was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Summer Paralympics, having made its debut in 1968 and appeared in every edition since.
Singapore competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.