Olympic profile: Dorte Jensen

Denmark's leading Yngling sailor

Like Shirley Robertson Denmark's Dorte Jensen was an accomplished Europe sailor before joining forces with crew Christina Borregaard-Otzen and Helle Jespersen to mount a Yngling campaign for Athens. A Europe European champion in 1991 and the following year, she finished 5th at the Barcelona Olympics before joining the international match racing circuit. As a match racer Jensen has enjoyed considerable success winning the women's division at the Swedish Match Cup three years on the trot from 1999-2001 and was also ISAF Women's World Match Racing Champion in 1999 and 2001.

She formed her Yngling team at the beginning of 2002 and has since been a regular in the top five, finishing third at the Worlds last year.

Name: Dorte O. Jensen

Where and when were you born? 20 October 1972

Marital status? Live with boyfriend for eight years

What age did you start sailing and what was your first regatta win? 1979. First major win were the 1990 IYRU Worlds in Horn in Europe dinghy

What's your biggest event or championship win? Biggest event was Olympics Barcelona 1992. All wins have been fantastic. They are not comparable.

Any other notable regattas you'd like to mention? They all have there own story.

Where did you grow up? With my parent and my two older brothers in Nyborg.

If you're not sailing what job would you do? Having my own physiotherapist clinic.

What other sports do you do outside sailing? Cycling, running, swimming.

Any other hobbies or interests? Sport in general

Favourite method of relaxing? Walking along the beach, looking at waves.

Favourite bar or pub? Non

What inspired you to take up sailing?My father and school mates.

Which class did you first race in? Optimist.

How did you buy your first boat? First I borrowed my older brother's Optimist. Five years later I bought my first Optimist. I earned money cleaning in the club. My father gave me the rest.

Have you ever used a coach and who were they? My first real steady coach was in the Europe class: Per Baagøe. Then I had Finn Beton and now Thomas Jacobsen and Jan Eli Andersen.

What's your most memorable moment in sailing? Going to Brazil, New Zealand, China and sailing in places that I never would have thought would be possible for me.

Outside the Olympics, what's your biggest remaining goal in sailing? Sailing top level sailing event such as WC in different classes.

How much time do you spend on the water each week? Difficult to count. But my guess would be 38-48 hours

Do you have a sponsor and if so, who? The national team has Hempel and Elsam as sponsor we also have a private sponsor, Tulip Food.

Who are your sailing heroes and why? I don´t know if I would call them heroes but there are people that I admire such as Rod Davis, Russell Coutts, Ellen MacArthur, Jesper Bank and many more for different skills.

What is the best excuse you've ever made for a poor performance in a race? You just have to face it and accept if you are not prepared or good enough.

What's your favourite sailing venue and why? Nyborg and Kaløvig where I have trained mostly because it is like coming home.

What's your greatest strength in sailing? Have a good knowledge about different conditions. Can perform in both heavy and light winds.

What's your greatest weakness in sailing? My stability is not good enough.

What's the single most important piece of advice you could give to younger sailors? You are responsible for your performance - not your coach or parents.