Feature

Ones to Watch at Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

Published on January 13th, 2016

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, which run from September 7-18, will see up to 4,350 athletes from around 170 countries compete in 528 medal events across 22 different sports.

In an effort to make it easier to understand which athletes to look out for at Rio 2016, the International Paralympic Committee is announcing Ones to Watch in all 22 sports.

In the three sailing events, here are the Ones to Watch athletes for sailing:

Damien Seguin (FRA) – Singlehanded (2.4mR class)
Seguin won Paralympic gold at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 but did not medal at London 2012. He returned to form in 2015 however, taking his fourth world title in the 2.4mR single-person keelboat.

Heiko Kroeger (GER) – Singlehanded (2.4mR class)
Germany’s Sydney 2000 Paralympic champion Heiko Kroeger sails in the 2.4mR class and has won seven world titles. He finished fourth at both Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, before taking silver at London 2012. He won silver at the 2015 World Championships behind French rival Damien Seguin.

Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS) – Doublehanded (SKUD18 class)
The pair took a break after winning gold at London 2012 but were back in SKUD18 action at the 2014 World Championships where they took their first world title together. In 2015 they won numerous World Cup events and finished the year by retaining their world title.

Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Russell Boaden (AUS) – Triplehanded (Sonar)
The trio finished with bronze at the 2014 World Championships and silver at the 2015 equivalent in the sonar competition, missing out on gold by just one point. Rio 2016 will be the trio’s first Paralympic Games together. Harrison and Boaden won bronze medals at Beijing 2008.

John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas (Great Britain) – Triplehanded (Sonar)
Rio 2016 will be the trio’s fourth Paralympic Games together. Having won the 2015 world title in the sonar class, edging home favourites Australia, they will be optimistic about landing their first Paralympic medal as a group. The crew finished fifth at London 2012.

Source: World Sailing