Sailing star Shirley Robertson has slammed the Olympic qualification process that denied her of the chance to realise her dream and complete her gold medal hat-trick.

The 40-year-old Dundee-born sailor grabbed her first Olympic gold in Sydney before being joined by Sarah Webb and Sarah Ayton as the ‘Three Blondes in a boat’ topped the podium in Athens.

Robertson had every intention of going for her third gold at the Beijing Olympics in August but, having just given birth to twins, could not return to peak fitness in time to qualify.

“They had the trials really early in Britain and I had just had my kids so I wasn’t quite at my best,” said the former International Sailor of the Year.

“I thought I had earned the right to be given a bit more time but they felt otherwise.

“I was quite vocal in my complaints about it at the time. I just didn’t see any harm in letting the qualification process run for a few more months, especially as we had been so close.”

Robertson was in the Far East but as a television pundit for the BBC as Ayton, Webb and Pippa Wilson claimed gold in the Yngling class which made its swansong Olympic appearance in Qingdao – the Olympic sailing venue.