Hannah Mills, Britain’s 470 Olympic silver medallist, hopes her success alongside Saskia Clark in London will inspire more women to stay in sport.
Women won eleven of Great Britain’s 29 gold medals, their best-ever haul.
“I definitely think Team GB women doing so well was a huge boost especially for the young girls,” said Mills.
“When kids are coming through school it’s very easy to drop out of sports so hopefully London will encourage them to stay involved for as long as possible.”
Last week the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, external [WSFF] raised concerns that women are being denied the chance to capitalise on the legacy of the London Olympics and claimed that women’s sport receives less media coverage than men’s.
“The achievements of Jessica Ennis, Sarah Storey, Kath Grainger and so many others have taken support for women’s sport to new heights and made 2012 the best year ever for women’s sport,” said WSFF chief executive Sue Tibballs.
“But we cannot rely on goodwill alone to overcome the obstacles to women’s sport taking its proper place in public life.
“This has to change or the Olympic legacy will have failed for women.”
Mills, 24, who is planning on continuing her 470 partnership with Clark through to Rio 2016, was speaking in Nice at the Extreme Sailing Series, external where she was one of only a few women competing.
