Graham Biehl

Graham Biehl
Personal information
Full nameGraham Porter Biehl
Nationality United States
Born (1986-08-31) August 31, 1986 (age 38)
San Diego, California, U.S.
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb)
Sailing career
ClassDinghy
Club San Diego Yacht Club[1]
CoachRomain Bonnaud[1]
Medal record
Sailing
Representing  United States
Junior World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2003 Moscow Snipe class

Graham Porter Biehl (born August 31, 1986, in San Diego, California) is an American sailor.

In 2003, in Moscow, Russia, he won the Junior World Championship of the Snipe class as a crew of Mikee Anderson-Mitterling,[2] who was elected ICSA College Sailor of the Year in 2005. They were the second American team in history to do so, after Steve Bloemeke and Gregg Morton in 1982.[3]

Afterwards, he specialized in the 470 class, with teammate Stuart McNay.[1][4] Biehl was ranked among the top 10 in the world for two-person dinghy class by the International Sailing Federation, following his successes at the North American Championships and ISAF Sailing World Cup Series in Miami, Florida, United States, in 2012.[5]

Graham is the nephew of Mark Reynolds, a three-time Olympic medalist and four-time Olympian in sailing who won gold in the mixed two-person keelboat at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.[6]

He has been training for San Diego Yacht Club throughout most of his sporting career. During his Olympic campaigns, he and McNay were coached by Nigel Cochrane and Romain Bonnaud.[1][7]

Olympics

He represented the United States, along with his partner Stuart McNay in two editions of the Olympic Games (2008 and 2012).

Beijing 2008

Biehl made his official debut at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he paired up with skipper Stuart McNay in the men's 470 class. The American duo finished thirteenth in a ten-round opening series with a net score of 105, edging out Israel's Gideon Kliger and Udi Gal by a tight, three-point gap from the final standings.[8][9]

London 2012

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Biehl competed for the second time after qualifying the men's 470 class by finishing thirteenth and receiving a berth from the ISAF World Championships in Perth, Western Australia.[5][10] Teaming again with McNay in the opening series, the American duo sailed from behind to post a net score of 108 points and establish a satisfying fourteenth-place finish in fleet of twenty-seven boats.[11][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Graham Biehl". London 2012. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  2. ^ 2003 Jr. Worlds
  3. ^ "Jr. World Championships". Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  4. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Graham Biehl". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "USA and Australia Dominate at Sail Melbourne". 470 World Championships. November 14, 2011. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  6. ^ Bowker, Paul (July 26, 2012). "Team USA's Second-Generation Olympians". Team USA. Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  7. ^ "Meet the Team – Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl, Men's 470". US Sailing. August 1, 2012. Archived from the original on June 16, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  8. ^ "Men's 470 Class". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on January 5, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  9. ^ "Australia scores double gold in 470 sailing". USA Today. August 18, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  10. ^ "U.S. Olympic sailing team adds 8". Associated Press. ESPN. December 22, 2011. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  11. ^ "Men's 470". London 2012. Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
  12. ^ "Olympics 'Heck of a Wake-up Call' for U.S. Sailing". KNSD. August 8, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2014.