Tom Ashley
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's sailing | ||
Competitor for  New Zealand
| ||
| Olympic Games | ||
| Gold | 2008 Beijing | Men's sailboard |
Thomas John Mitchell Ashley, ONZM (born 11 February 1984 in Auckland) is a sailor from New Zealand, who won the gold medal in the men's sailboard event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, he also won the 2008 RS:X World Championships. He is the Olympic champion and the 2008 World champion. Ashley attended Westlake Boys High School in Auckland, which had earlier fostered the development of other notable sailors, including Chris Dickson and Dean Barker.
Ashley placed 2nd two years previous at the 2006 World Championships. During the event the top-10 sailors were selected to sail the final race, called the medal race. Before the start of the medal race Ashley was in first position, only one point in front of Casper Bouman from the Netherlands. Bouman finished second in the medal race, one position in front of Ashley. Both sailors then had the same points (23), but Bouman was crowned as the World champion thanks to his better position during the medal race.
Achievements
| Year | Position | Boat type | Event |
| 2010 |  | RS:X - Men's Windsurfer |  HRH Princess Sofia Trophy |
| 2010 |  | RS:X - Men's Windsurfer | Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland |
| 2009 | | RS:X - Men's Windsurfer | Singapore Airlines Sail Auckland |
| 2008 | | RS:X - Men's Windsurfer |  2008 Olympic Games - Men's sailboard |
| 2008 | | RS:X - Men's Windsurfer | 2008 RS:X World Championships |
| 2006 | | RS:X - Men's Windsurfer |  2006 RS:X World Championships |
| 2006 | | RS:X - Men's Windsurfer |  ISAF World Sailing Games |
| 2006 |  | RS:X - Men's Windsurfer | HRH Princess Sofia Trophy |
| 2006 | | RS:X - Men's Windsurfer | Sail Auckland International Regatta |
| 2006 | | RS:X - Men's Windsurfer | New Zealand RS:X National Championship |
| 2004 | | Mistral - Men |  Semaine Olympique Francaise |
| 2003 | | Mistral - Men | Sail Auckland |
| 2003 | | Mistral - Men |  Sail Melbourne |
| 2002 | | Mistral - Men |  Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship |
| 2002 | | Mistral - Men | IMCO World Youth Championship |
Training partners
Ashley's training partners have been known to have been: Josh Nixon (NZL), Antonio Cozzolino (NZL), Ricardo Santos (BRA), Joao Rodigues (POR), Shahar Tzuberi (ISR), Ivan Pastor Lafuente (ESP) and Zac Plavsic (CAN).
Club memberships
Ashley is a member of:
- Takapuna Boating Club http://www.takapunaboating.org.nz
- The Devonport Pony Club http://www.devonportponyclub.co.nz
- The New Zealand RSX Association http://www.yachtingnz.org.nz