Micky Beckett: The Solva sailor stepping out of the shadows into the big time

The ILCA 7 star missed out on selection for the delayed Games in Japan, but instead was brought onboard as part of the TV production crew.

Since that experience, he has cemented his position as not only the best in Britain, but also a major contender to win it all at the Marseille Marina.

The honour of a lifetime to be selected for @teamgb 🇬🇧

These are big boots to fill, but doing it alongside a very impressive @britishsailing team is as cool as it gets

I’ll be representing the UK at @paris2024 in the men’s @ilca_sailing. https://t.co/3ZCMLix2UY

— Michael Beckett (@MickyBeckett) October 11, 2023

This is how he got to that point:

A family affair

Beckett’s journey to Paris has been more than two decades in the making. Growing up in Solva, on the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales, Beckett could not have dreamed of a more beautiful spot to pick up the sport.

His dad worked as a sailing instructor and a boat builder and Micky got his first experience of sailing his old man’s handmade boat while just five years old.

It did not take him long to realise that sailing was the sport for him and by 2008, Beckett was waking up in the middle of the night to watch the sailing at the Beijing Olympics.

He recalled: “One of my earliest memories of the Games is my mum waking me up during the Beijing Olympics to watch an incredible 49er race at three o’clock in the morning.

“To now be going to compete there is pretty special.”

Five years on, and Beckett’s progress was such that he made his way onto the British Sailing team, with the aim of making it to Rio.

He is the first to admit that he did not come close, the then 20-year-old not quite ready for the big stage.

Trying TV in Tokyo

Five years on, Beckett came much closer to qualifying for the Games, narrowly missing out on selection to Elliot Hanson in the laser class.

While his Olympic dreams were put on hold once again, Beckett still got his chance to watch the Games up close.

He explained: “I wasn’t selected for the Olympics but I got a call from someone in the production team to say they needed somebody who understood sailing to be what’s called a live production spotter.

“I would sit next to the director and advise them on the narrative of the race. Which bits of the race are worth looking at and where the helicopters should be.

“It was an amazing experience and really interesting to go to the Olympics. I knew a lot of the people out there racing and it was a fantastic way to see an event up close.

“But I remember the director actually said to me afterwards: ‘it’s been good having you here working with us, but make sure actually competing next time the Olympics happens’.”

Persistence pays off

Three years later, that is exactly what he has done.

Beckett closed out 2021 by winning the European Championships in Varna, Bulgaria. In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of Hanson and Nick Thompson, Team GB’s representatives at the last two Olympics.

He has also now secured a hat-trick of titles at the prestigious Trofeo Princesa Sofia Regatta in Palma, Mallorca, establishing himself as one of the main contenders in Paris.

 

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The problem seemed to be on the global stage though, with Beckett underperforming at the World Championships in both 2021 and 2022.

He realised that the problem was coming from overtraining. He would put everything into being in peak condition and by the time the Worlds came around, had nothing left to give.

That changed in 2023, however. Over the space of a month, Beckett claimed back-to-back silver medals at the Paris 2024 Test Event, taking place at the Olympic venue in Marseille, as well as at the World Championships in The Hague – the biggest two regattas in the Olympic cycle.

 

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Battling Wearn

With his Worlds monkey off his back, Beckett has one more challenge left to face.

Those successive silver medals both came in similar fashion, with the Brit leading for much of the regatta, only to be overhauled by Australia’s Matt Wearn, the reigning Olympic champion.

The second of those was particularly galling, with the Tokyo gold medallist taking advantage of one of sailing’s idiosyncrasies to block Beckett in the penultimate race, meaning he was able to snatch gold from his grasp.

Wearn has since added another world title in 2024, with Beckett in bronze this time, but the pair seem set to battle to the end once again this summer.

 

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After booking his place at the Olympics at the third attempt, Beckett will be desperate to make it third time lucky against his Australian rival in Marseille.