WEYMOUTH’S double Olympic medallist Nick Dempsey is not ruling out the possibility of both he and his wife Sarah Ayton competing at Rio 2016 – although he admits the entire situation represents a ‘big call’ for their family.

Having added to his Athens 2004 bronze this summer with a London 2012 silver, Dempsey is now looking ahead to the next Games by experimenting with kiteboarding, the discipline set to replace his sport of windsurfing in the Olympic programme.

Meanwhile, two-time Olympic Yngling keelboat champion Ayton, 32, who retired from the sport in 2011 to focus on motherhood, is contemplating a Rio comeback.

Dempsey said the potential is there for them to both be part of Team GB in four years’ time, but stressed nothing is certain yet as there will be some major decisions for the couple – who have two young sons – to make.

He said: “There is potential for that, but there is also the potential for a lot of problems with that – we do have two kids, and to do that would require a lot of funding and a lot of sacrifices to be made.

“I’m not sure where we both stand on that.

“If we both do it, it will be really tough, but that will depend on what she decides to sail, how good she is at it, how much sponsorship money she can raise and whether we both want to travel around the world as a family.

“It is a big call.”

Dempsey said he took to kiteboarding straight away and ‘can’t wait to go again’.

The 32-year-old is less sure of his skills as a househusband but added: “Never say never – if she really, really wanted to do that (compete in Rio), then I would support whatever she wanted to do. But we’ll see.”

Prior to retirement, Ayton campaigned for 2012 with Saskia Clark , who went on to win a silver medal with Hannah Mills in the 470 dinghy class.

Clark described Ayton as a ‘hugely talented sailor and a hugely driven person’ and added: “If there is anyone likely to make a comeback with two children, she would probably be top of my list to be successful in that.”

Clark, 33, has already pledged to continue on to Rio with Mills.

She said: “I thought winning a medal would feel like the end of an era or chapter of my life and a bit of closure, but it doesn’t feel like that at all – it feels like I want to go again and I don’t want this whole thing to end.”