By Rob Hodgetts
BBC Sport |
Olympic champions are made for life, free of the daily struggle of us lesser mortals, forever content having scaled their summit.
Think this is true? Just ask Athens sailing champion Sarah Ayton.
The 24-year-old Englishwoman won her first Olympic gold in the Yngling class with double champion Shirley Robertson and Sarah Webb.
But five months on, with the flashbulbs of success dimming, and about to embark on a new Olympic campaign, Ayton is back to the harsh reality of existing for her sport.
Along with fianc� Nick Dempsey, who won a surprise windsurfing bronze in Athens, Ayton has contacted nearly 500 companies in search of sponsorship - without success.
"We phoned near enough everyone but with no joy. It's very hard and a bit disappointing," Ayton told BBC Sport.
 |  The feeling when we won the medal was wicked - I'd do anything to get that again |
"You can only just carry on performing to keep your lottery funding secure and hopefully it'll catch someone's eye and they'll support us."
The key phrases are "secure" and "lottery funding", without which many of Britain's Olympic stars would not be able to compete at the top level.
"There's no way," said Ayton. "Generally, the perception of sailing is for rich people.
"But for myself and Nick and most of the team, it's definitely not that.
| Top-funded Olympic sports 2001-2005 Athletics: �11.4m (64 athletes, 4 medals) Rowing: �10.6m (57 - 4) Cycling: �8.6m (30 - 4) Sailing: �7.6m (40 - 5) Swimming: �6.4m (48 - 2) |
"My parents are working class and we don't have any family money and without lottery funding there's no way I could have gone full time at the age of 18.
"So it's everything to me."
Lottery funding was introduced after the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 for elite athletes across a range of sports.
Sailor Ben Ainslie, who won silver in Atlanta in 1996 and golds in Sydney and Athens, told BBC Sport: "It's been crucial. You can just see it in the results.
"Britain had its best ever Olympics in Sydney [five sailing medals] and that continued in Athens, so it wasn't a fluke and a lot of it is down to the funding.
"Sailing doesn't need to be that expensive but at the very top, at Olympic level, it's very expensive."
Sailing received �7,597,000 of lottery money from UK Sport in the four-year cycle building up to Athens.
This goes towards boats and equipment, travel and transportation, coaches, administration and living expenses for 40 top sailors.
A gold medal-winning Yngling campaign costs in the region of �500,000, according to Ayton.
But there is a significant shortfall to be made up from what is received from the lottery.
"We have enough money to just about live somewhere between Nick and me but you have to watch your pennies," said Ayton.
"It's all about the sailing and that's why you need a huge amount of drive, especially when you're training in Weymouth harbour in winter in temperatures of 0C - not very glamorous.
"It is all about winning the medal, and if I had to sell my house tomorrow I would do that just to get the money to go sailing because it's an awesome sport.
"The feeling when we won the medal was absolutely wicked.
"I'd do anything to get that again."
MMIX
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