Alumna of the Year 2017 nominee profile: Hannah Mills, Howell’s School Llandaff

Hannah Mills MBE won a gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the women’s 470 sailing event and was awarded an MBE in the 2017 New Year honours for services to sailing.

Hannah Mills began sailing, aged eight, on a family trip to Cornwall. Bitten by the sailing bug, Hannah became involved with the RYA, where she came to the attention of the Welsh National Squad. She won a series of world titles in a stellar junior career, and in 2002 Hannah was voted UK Young Sailor of the Year and BBC Wales Young Sports Personality of the Year.

She teamed up with sailing partner Saskia Clarke just 18 months before London 2012, but saw immediate success on the water, winning silver at the 2011 World Championships and gold the next year.

At the London Olympics, they won silver, but remained determined to bring home a gold medal for Team GB. Despite losing their coach, and a violent mugging on the streets of Rio, the pair continued racing, and in August 2016 they sailed to Olympic gold victory.

Courageous, resourceful and talented, Hannah Mills is an inspiration. Despite the disappointment of narrowly missing out on a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics, she exhibited tenacity and self-assurance beyond all measure to achieve her goal at the Rio Olympics.

Her Rio 2016 win has given her fame beyond the sailing community; Hannah is an ambassador for the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation, a charity that encourages children of all backgrounds and abilities to enjoy sailing; and in 2017 she will be working with the NSPCC, going into schools to inspire young people to be as assured, confident and determined as she is.