Paul Goodison
Paul Goodison grew up in Rotherham and started sailing aged four with his father in a National 12 at Ulley Sailing Club. He is currently the World number one Laser sailor, holding the Olympic, European, World and British titles.
Since turning professional in 1996 he has put together a most impressive string of results. His first major success came in the 2000 Laser European Championships where he won silver. At the Athens 2004 Olympic Games – his first Olympic Games - he narrowly missed a bronze medal.
Finishing in the top ten has become a regular habit for Paul and he has been going from strength to strength ever since. He finished in gold medal position for an impressive third year in a row at the 2007 European Championships in Hyeres. He also won gold at both the 2006 and 2007 Olympic Test Events in Qingdao, China . At the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Paul competed in the Laser class and won Olympic gold. His homecoming party at Ulley was quite something!
In 2009, Paul won his fifth consecutive European Laser title. In August he then went on to win his first World Laser title in Halifiax, Nova Scotia. Paul remained undefeated since Beijing until he was fifth at the Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth in September.
Paul has one of the best Laser sailing records in the world, having finished within the top ten in 84% of all the Olympic Classes events he has entered over the past decade.
The Laser is one of the two single-handed dinghies that are sailed at the Olympics by men, the second being the Finn dinghy which triple Olympic Gold medallist Ben Ainslie now sails. Ben was an inspiration to Paul whilst he was growing up but now the pair are both friends and rivals.
Paul enjoys windsurfing, kiteboarding and playing golf in his spare time.
To read more please visit:http://paulgoodison.com/
