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Ainslie considered skipping London 2012

Ben Ainslie will bid to defend his Olympic Finn title at London 2012 © Getty Images

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• Profile: Ben Ainslie

Ben Ainslie has revealed he would have turned his back on London 2012 to pursue his dream of sailing in the America's Cup.

The triple Olympic champion was facing a nightmare decision of choosing between going for a fourth Olympic title - in his home waters - or preparing for the 2013 America's Cup with Team Origin.

"It was very difficult because the Olympics has been everything so far in my career and 2012 is obviously such a great opportunity," Ainslie told The Times. "But the future five, ten years down the line is probably, hopefully, the America's Cup and so it was really weighing up Olympic ambitions and dreams against being a professional sportsman.

"I was going through a pretty tough time, actually. It was definitely going to be an incredibly hard decision to make, but, to be pretty honest, I was probably a couple of weeks away from committing to the [America's] Cup and having to turn my back on the Games. I hadn't 100 per cent made that call but that's where I was heading."

But Sir Keith Mills, team principal of Team Origin, who was instrumental in bringing the 2012 Games to London, gave the event another boost when he pulled his team out of the America's Cup, leaving Ainslie to pursue a fifth Olympic medal in Weymouth.

"I was really disappointed because I felt we had a team that could have a really good shot at winning it," Ainslie said. "But Sir Keith obviously made the decision to pull out and, so I guess thankfully in a way, I didn't have to make my decision in the end."

Ainslie will bid to defend his Olympic crown in the Finn class, but with just one competitor from each nation able to qualify, he faces a challenge just to find himself on the start line.

While Ainslie turned to yachts after Beijing 2008, fellow Brit Ed Wright has established himself as world champion, while Giles Scott and Andrew Mills are ranked No. 5 and No. 9 in the world respectively.

Ainslie admits the dynamic within the British team has changed on his return to dinghy sailing, and his team-mates have a point to prove.

"Every now and then you notice little things have changed," Ainslie said. "It's a very different dynamic now, they're trying to stand their ground and impose themselves as any sports person would do.

"I guess I'm the guy with the track record and the history so they've got to knock me off to get there. I'm sure there's plenty of guns aiming at me but that's nothing new."

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