Sarah Webb was one of the Olympic gold medal sailing team in Beijing, affectionately named “Three Blondes in a Boat”, alongside crewmates Sarah Ayton and Pippa Wilson.

It was her second Olympic gold following her team’s success in Athens in 2004.

Webb, 31, took up sailing at the age of seven, and has sailed in a number of different classes since graduating from youth sailing. She won silver at the 2000 British Olympic trials in the 470 class and only narrowly missed out on a place in the Sydney Olympic team. In 2003, she left the 470 class to try her hand in the more technical keelboat, the yngling.

She lives in Barnes, west London, with her boyfriend Adam Gosling.

How much money do you have in your wallet?

Probably £20 and €30. I’m in the South of France for a long weekend. It’s been incredibly busy following Beijing. I had no idea what the public perception here was. Over there, we were in a kind of bubble.

What credit cards do you have?

I try to use cards wherever possible. I have an American Express and a Barclaycard. I also have a NatWest current account. I try to pay off my credit card bills in full each month, but in practice this doesn’t always happen.

Are you a saver or a spender?

In an ideal world, I would like to be a saver, but it’s impossible with the financial restraints of sailing.

Being a full-time Olympic sailor doesn’t make me enough money to cover expenses, let alone leave me enough to save.

We have to use a lot of our own money to train and buy equipment, and until recently, we haven’t had time to make any money on the side because of the training.

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