WITH a historic fourth gold medal beckoning this summer – and a controversy-laden last few months - Ben Ainslie’s stated aim of slipping under the London 2012 Olympic radar appears misguided.

But the veteran sailor plans on doing just that in the coming months as he looks to ignore the home-Olympic hype and fine-tune the preparations for the defence of his Finn crown.

The 35-year-old has barely been out of the news in recent months after his disqualification at the ISAF World Championships, for remonstrating with a TV boat, threw his 2012 participation into doubt.

Ainslie could have faced a two-year ban from the sport but has been cleared to compete at 2012, and duly celebrated it by winning the World Cup in Palma last week.

With London fever striking the nation and three gold-medals to his names already Ainslie could easily be a ubiquitous figure over the next three months as the Games preparations heat-up.

But the former Penryn Junior School pupil plans on being anything but.

“The aim in Palma was to be back in the mix but it’s still very early so everyone is going to be peaking in a few months and that’s where everyone’s focus is at the moment,” said Skandia Team GB member Ainslie.

“This will be a bit different to most Olympics. Usually you go out there and you get away from all the distractions and can focus purely on the event, but that won’t be the case in London.

“We will have to be very careful not to get carried away with everything else which is going on with a home Olympics.”

The weight of a nation is one thing. But for a man with an ongoing back problem Olympic expectation is of a more practical concern.

Ainslie was forced to go under the knife in January and while adamant he is on the mend – as proved by results in Majorca recently – the back problem is not completely out of his mind.

“Palma was a really good week,” he added.

“We had a range of different conditions and with it being the first European regatta of the season it’s been good for me.

“I’ve had a problem with my back which I had to have an operation on which kept me out of action for about two months. It’s pretty tough for anyone in that situation when you have to do a lot of rehab but you just have to get on with it.

“There is still a bit of a way to go but we have got four months intense training in the UK to get back to full fitness.

“It’s good to be UK-based for a few months ahead of the Games.”

Investment specialist Skandia is the principal sponsor of the British sailing team. For more information go to www.skandiateamgbr.com