Olympian Sir Ben Ainslie and his wife to sell off their stunning £3.5m nine-bedroom Isle of Wight home as focus turns to America’s Cup, writes RICHARD EDEN

Winning a single gold medal would be enough for most Olympians — not, though, for Sir Ben Ainslie, who, after victory in Sydney, triumphed again in Athens, Beijing and London, thereby establishing himself as the most successful sailor in the games’ history.

Now he’s focused on winning next month’s America’s Cup, the world’s oldest international sporting competition, which has inspired him since childhood — not least because victory has, so far, eluded Britain since the first ever race in 1851.

The intensity of Ainslie’s ambition — and willingness to push himself beyond what others would consider endurable limits — has earned him the admiration of the Princess of Wales, royal patron of his charity, the 1851 Trust, and the unwavering support of his wife, former Sky Sports presenter Georgie Thompson.

But I can disclose that it’s come at a cost few would be willing to pay: the impending sale of the couple’s magical, nine-bedroom house, with swimming pool and croquet lawn, on the Isle of Wight — with £1million knocked off the original asking price.

‘It’s a real shock because Ben loves the island,’ a friend of the star has said (pictured in 2011)

‘It’s a real shock because Ben loves the island,’ a friend tells me. And Georgie, 46, a former girlfriend of television star Declan Donnelly, evidently loves the house.

‘We are, sadly, selling our beautiful home,’ she confirms, telling me that ‘work and family commitments’ mean that they’re unable to spend as much time there as they’d like. 

It’s a sacrifice she may have anticipated, not only because of marriage to Ben, 47, but from interviewing other supreme sportsmen. They are, she reflected, ‘focused on their goals to a degree I sometimes find difficult to truly understand’.

The house, set in 30 acres, has beautiful stained-glass windows and a Minton tiled floor. It captivated Queen Victoria, a friend of the man who created it, Crimean War veteran Somerset Gough-Calthorpe, 7th Lord Calthorpe.

When Victoria lamented that a metal pillar on the terrace obscured her view of the Solent, Calthorpe had it removed. 

It’s now yours for £3.5million, though Georgie adds: ‘If we win the America’s Cup this summer and bring it back to home waters, we may change our minds!’