STALHEIM Jesper

General
RIO EXPERIENCE
He placed 16th in Laser at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Although he had hoped to finish higher in the rankings, he believes the experience will benefit him as his career progresses. "The Olympic Games [in 2016] was quite a disappointment for me. I had a hard time managing to hold my lanes around the course, so a thing that was one of my strengths and something I usually did quite well didn't work at all. With age you become wiser, and since sailing is a sport that requires experience, things should start working out better and better for me." (laserinternational.org, 17 Sep 2019; hamnen.se, 20 Sep 2017)

SAILING OTHER CLASSES
He has competed in 49er and Star regattas in Sweden. "After the [2016] Olympic Games I was fed up with the Laser so I wanted to try another class. It was such a joy to learn to sail the 49er and sail with another person. Starting out, you're at the point where just getting out of the harbour is an issue, let alone getting around the course when the wind is up. The Star is like the Laser - it's not the most exciting boat to sail, but the racing is exceptional. So for racing I choose Star, for sailing joy 49er." (laserinternational.org, 17 Sep 2019; hamnen.se, 20 Sep 2017)

EARLY DAYS
His mother encouraged him to start sailing in the Laser class. "After growing out of the Optimist and then the Europe dinghy quite quickly, I got into the Laser as that was the next natural step. I think my mother was a big influence for me choosing the Laser as she already had one and liked the boat." (laserinternational.org, 17 Sep 2019)