Maria Coleman (born 21 July 1969) is an Irish former sailor, who specialized in the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

class. She represented her nation

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004), and was once ranked second in the world for her signature class by the

International Sailing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

, the highest ever placement for an Irish sailor. Coleman trained throughout most of her competitive sporting career for the Royal Cork Sailing Club. Coleman made her Olympic debut in

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, finishing a credible twelfth in the

class with a satisfying net grade of 86, but narrowly falling short from the top ten spot by a two-point deficit. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Coleman qualified for her second Irish team, as a lone female sailor, in the

class by placing fifteenth and receiving a berth from the 2003 ISAF World Championships in Cadiz. Coleman endured most of the races with mediocre marks, before finding her form at the back end of the opening series with her first and only victory over a fleet of twenty-four other sailors. Coleman's triumph on the last round of the series, however, was not enough to move her towards the top of the leaderboard, ending her Olympic campaign in eighteenth overall with a net grade of 147.

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* * * 1969 births Living people Irish female sailors (sport) Olympic sailors for Ireland Sailors at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Europe Sailors at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Europe Irish people of English descent Sportspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands People from County Cavan {{Ireland-yachtracing-bio-stub