Hannah Mills OBE

Hannah Mills OBE is an Olympic gold medallist sailor and one of the most decorated female sailors of all time. With three Olympic medals and two world champion titles in the 470 class, Hannah is an inspirational athlete with an impressive list of sporting feats and environmental pledges. 

Finding her passion for sailing at the age of eight, Hannah sailed for the Welsh National Optimist Squad, winning the British Optimist Championships in 2001. Hannah went on to represent GBR at the Optimist World Championships in both 2002 and 2003, finishing at the latter with the best result by a British sailor at that championship as the first girl and fifth overall. Continuing to compete around the globe, Hannah achieved medals at several championships before taking on the 2011 Skandia Sail for Gold regatta and the 2011 Weymouth and Portland International regatta, where she and her crew won silver in the women’s 470. She went on to win gold at the 470 World Championships the following year before helming for the 2012 Olympic Games, winning silver through a hard final battle with New Zealand. Hannah then took gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, retaining her record at Tokyo in 2021, winning gold in the women’s 470 event. That same year, she joined the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team for the 2021-2022 season, going on to launch Athena Pathway alongside Sir Ben Ainslie, promoting inclusion, change, and opportunities for female and youth athletes. The programme competed in the inaugural Women’s America’s Cup, unfortunately beaten in the finals by the Italian team. Alongside her sporting feats, Hannah founded Athletes of the World, a campaign group making a positive impact towards climate change, and Big Plastic Pledge, a movement of athletes working to eradicate single-use plastic in and around sport. 

As a result of her glittering career, Hannah has received numerous honours and awards celebrating her achievements. She has been voted the UK Young Sailor of the Year, named BBC Wales’ Young Sports Personality of the Year, won Female World Sailor of the Year Award, received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Chichester, and won the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award. In 2017, she was appointed an MBE, and in 2022, she was awarded an OBE for her services to sailing and the environment. 

Passionate and committed to bettering both the opportunities for female and young sailors as well as the state of the planet, Hannah is a versatile, insightful and engaging speaker. Her journey to becoming an Olympic champion whilst navigating the high-stakes conditions of sailing will leave audiences in awe of her determination, strength and skill as a highly decorated sailor and pioneering sports mentor.