(Click here to link to Gebi's personal website.)

US Sailing Team member Mike Gebhardt has dominated men's boardsailing in the United States since first making the US Sailing Team in 1986. A veteran of three Olympics resulting in two medals ('88 Bronze, '92 Silver), Gebhardt has a complete set of Pan Am Games hardware, compliments of his three trips to those Games ('99 Bronze, '95 Silver, '87 Gold).

A professional sailor/coach/consultant, "Gebi" began sailing from his waterfront backyard at age 8. As an avid surfer and catamaran racer, he took up boardsailing after his younger brother windsurfed home one day, sparking some serious sibling rivalry. Little more than a year after learning to windsurf, Gebi won his first national boardsailing championship. After competing at the 1984 Olympic Trials and finishing third, Gebi was invited to become the tuning partner for Trials winner Scott Steele (ultimately the '84 Olympic Silver Medalist). Experiencing the Olympics from the sidelines provided the motivation for Gebi's own pursuit of Olympic glory.

Gebi credits his longevity in the sport to the spiritual rebirth that followed his silver medal performance at the Barcelona Olympic Regatta. Although the '92 gold medal appeared to be his, an unexpected windshift put the one competitor he needed to beat in the winning position. A disappointed Gebhardt made dramatic changes in his lifestyle, incorporating meditation, following the teachings of Sai Baba, and adhering to a strict grain-based diet, all of which came into play when a career-threatening injury occurred in 1994. In a freak accident, while towing home from practice, his right biceps was nearly severed by the towrope. Remarkably, Gebi was back sailing ten days later.

SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS:
1999 Pan American Games Mistral Men's Bronze Medalist, Canada
1995 Pan American Games Silver Medalist, Argentina
1994 USWA Production Funboard National Champion
1992 Olympic Silver Medalist, Barcelona
Tudor Boardsailor of the Year
1988 Olympic Bronze Medalist, Pusan
1987 Pan American Games Gold Medalist

SAILING RESUME:
2000
Kiel Week, Germany (12th/71 Mistral Men)
Mistral World Championship, Argentina (16th/89 Mistral Men)
1999
Sydney International Regatta, Australia (21st/53 Mistral Men)
Mistral World Championship, New Caledonia (38th/95 boards)
Olympic Team Trials, Indian Harbor, FL (1st/20 Mistral Men)
IBM Sydney Harbour Regatta, Australia (8th/36 boards)
Pan American Games, Gimli, Canada (3rd/9 boards)
Mistral Men North American Champs, San Francisco (7th/41 boards)
SPA, Holland (38th/106 boards)
French Olympic Week, Hyeres (44th/118 boards)
Miami OCR (1st/34 boards)
1998
Sydney International Regatta, Australia (8th/25 Mistral Men)
Mistral Men’s World Championship, France (27^th/54 boards)
Sydney Harbour Regatta, Australia (15^th/23 boards)
Miami OCR (1st/43 boards)
1997
Miami OCR (1st/28 boards)
1996
Olympic Games, Savannah (6th/46 boats)
Olympic Trials, Savannah (1st/29 boards)
World Champs, Haifa (11th/60 boards)
Miami OCR (6th/60 boards)
1995 Pan Am Games Trials, Ft. Pierce (1st/12)
Mistral Men's Olympic Pre-Trials, Savannah (1st/19)
Mistral Worlds, South Africa (31st/59 boards)
Mistral Men's National Champs, Tybee Island (3rd/48)
Miami OCR (12th/69 boards)
Tudor European Champions, England (14th/60 boards)