Paul Elvstrom died on December 7, 2016 at the age of 88 in his hometown of Hellerup (Denmark)

Born on 25 February 1928, Paul Elvstrom participated eight times in the Olympic Games from 1948 to 1988. He was one of the most successful and complete regatists of the Olympic candle. Danish navigator won four consecutive times an Olympic gold medal: London (1948), Helsinki Finn (1952), Melbourne (1956) and Rome (1960). He competed in Star, Soling and Tornado at the subsequent Olympic Games. His tornado crew with his daughter was the first Olympic Games of the family crew.

He won eleven world championships in seven different classes (Finn, 505, Snipe, Flying Dutchman, 5.5 Metros, Star and Selling). He was the absolute dominator of the world's races, making the sport candle evolve through a rigorous preparation in the technical and physical aspects. He has always highlighted his preparation in the Snipe class, although he has only one world title in it because this class only holds world championships every two years, unlike the rest he does annually, as the competition in this class has always been very high and Elvstrøm considers that "competitiveness is more important than speed"

Paul Elvstrom is also part of the history of the candle for his inventions. It is at the origin of a new model of dumping, now common accessory in boats, distributed by Andersen... also created a model of life jacket. In 1954, Paul Elvstrom founded the Elvstrom Sails Velas Light, as he has become Elvstrom Sails. The logo, a red crown of the comic book itself, became a common symbol in the waters of races all over the world.