Split ... Sarah, Nick and kids last year
OLYMPIC hero Nick Dempsey has split from his sailing star wife — after she sacrificed her own medal dreams to raise their children.
Windsurfer Dempsey, 32, is now dating the woman who took the place of his wife Sarah Ayton, 33, in Britain’s 2012 team.
He has been seen in restaurants and bars with Hannah Mills, 25, who like him won a silver medal at the London Games.
Gold ... Sarah, left, in 2008
A source said: “Tongues have been wagging. It must be humiliating for Sarah.”
Talented yachtswoman Sarah — one of the crew dubbed “three blondes in a boat” — won Olympic golds in the Yngling sailing class at Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.
But a year before London 2012, she gave up her chance to become the first British woman to win three consecutive golds and decided to focus on their two young sons.
Nick swam to her after winning his silver medal in the RS:X windsurfing class last summer and paid an emotional tribute to his “amazing wife”.
New love ... Nick with sailor Hannah last week
He declared that the couple had had a big decision to make about who would go for gold in 2016.
And he added: “She’s far better at looking after the kids than I am.”
A few months later, he reportedly moved out of the family house in Weymouth, Dorset, to a flat a mile away. The £425,000 marital home is now believed to have been sold.
In November, Dempsey turned up without Sarah at the British Olympic Ball, in London’s Mayfair. With him was Welsh-born Hannah and her team-mate Saskia Clark.
Hannah ... with her 2012 medal
He and Hannah, who lives in Weymouth, are thought to have been an item for a number of months.
The source said: “You don’t know what goes on behind closed doors but a family’s been split up, which is upsetting for all concerned.
“The fact Nick has left one Olympic medallist for another only makes it worse.”
Dempsey refused to discuss his relationship with Hannah. Sarah declined to comment.
