Hannah Mills OBE

Hannah Mills OBE is one of the most decorated female sailors in Olympic history, renowned for her exceptional achievements on the water and her leadership away from competition. A double Olympic gold medallist and winner of three Olympic medals overall, Hannah has built a global reputation for resilience, teamwork and high performance under pressure. Alongside her sporting success, she is a passionate advocate for sustainability and inclusion in sport, making her a highly sought after inspirational leadership speaker. Organisations hire Hannah to speak on leadership, teamwork, overcoming challenges and creating meaningful change, drawing on experiences gained at the very highest level of international competition.

Hannah’s sailing journey began at an early age when she joined the Welsh National Optimist Squad at just eight years old. Her talent quickly became evident as she won the British Optimist Championships in 2001 before representing Great Britain at the Optimist World Championships in both 2002 and 2003. During this period, she achieved the best result by a British sailor at the championships, finishing as the highest placed girl and fifth overall. Hannah continued to progress through the ranks of elite sailing, securing medals at major championships before establishing herself within the women’s 470 class. In 2011, she claimed silver medals at both the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta and the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta before going on to win gold at the 470 World Championships.

At the London 2012 Olympic Games, Hannah won silver following a fiercely contested campaign against New Zealand, before reaching the pinnacle of her sport with Olympic gold at Rio 2016. She cemented her legacy by defending her title at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, earning a second Olympic gold medal in the women’s 470 event. Beyond the Olympics, Hannah joined the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team and has become a leading voice for sustainability and equality in sport. She founded Athletes of the World and launched the Big Plastic Pledge, while also establishing Athena Pathway alongside Sir Ben Ainslie to create opportunities for women and young athletes in sailing. Her achievements have been recognised with honours including an MBE, later an OBE, the Female World Sailor of the Year Award and the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award.

Hannah is hired as a speaker for her inspiring perspective on leadership, teamwork and driving positive change. Combining Olympic success with environmental advocacy and athlete development initiatives, she delivers engaging talks on resilience, collaboration and purpose driven leadership. Her experiences performing under immense pressure and leading initiatives that create opportunities for future generations make her an outstanding speaker on inspirational leadership and high performance culture.