Stuart Bithell (born 28 August 1986 in Rochdale) is a British sailor and Olympic champion. He competed with Luke Patience in the

470 class The 470 (Four-Seventy) is a double-handed monohull planing dinghy with a centreboard, Bermuda rig, and centre sheeting. Equipped with a spinnaker, trapeze and a large sail-area-to-weight ratio, it is designed to plane easily, and good teamwork is ...

at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

where he won a silver medal and in the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

where he won a gold medal in the Men's 49er class with Dylan Fletcher. In 2013, it was announced that Bithell and Patience would part ways, their aim for 470 gold no longer viable. While Patience continued in the 470, Bithell moved on to partner with

John Pink John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

in the 49er class. They failed to qualify for Rio 2016, losing out to Dylan Fletcher and Alain Sign. After Rio, Pink and Sign both left the class. This resulted in Bithell and Fletcher teaming up. The decision was made in Portland, while the two competed against each other in the Moth class. They worked tirelessly together to reach Tokyo 2020. Alongside Fletcher, Bithell competed in 2019's inaugural season of the SailGP, onboard Great Britain SailGP Team. He was flight controller on board. The team finished 4th overall. Bithell became Olympic champion representing Great Britain at the

in the Men's 49er class with Dylan Fletcher. Bithell was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to sailing.

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* * * * 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Rochdale British male sailors (sport) Olympic sailors for Great Britain Sailors at the 2012 Summer Olympics – 470 Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in sailing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Sailors at the 2020 Summer Olympics – 49er Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Sailors at the 2020 Summer Olympics – 49er Members of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-yachtracing-bio-stub