Who are the Tokyo 2020 medal hopefuls?

Britain’s Hannah Diamond, who missed out on qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympics and now is pursuing offshore races, provides a preview of the upcoming Olympic Games:

Over the last few days many of the athletes competing at the Tokyo Olympics have started to make their way out to Japan for the first time since 2019 to unpack their containers and re-familiarise themselves with Olympic waters prior to the first races starting on the July 25.

The excitement is already palpable for the national teams and the individual sailors and the Olympic regatta in Enoshima promises to be an amazing event to follow. However, the build-up to the sailing events has been so different to previous Games.

With no access to Enoshima Harbour since the start of the pandemic and with sailing being such a venue dependent sport, teams would have typically been continuously collecting weather data from the beginning of the cycle to ensure that they are best prepared for this pinnacle event.

Many of the athletes from countries with cooler climates have had access to heat chambers to do their physical training in, in order to fast track their adaptation to the humidity expected in Tokyo as they were unable to travel out early enough to truly adapt while they are out there.

The heat and humidity, even on the water can have a significant impact on nutrition and hydration strategies, recovery and perhaps the most important factor for racing; the ability to make good decisions under pressure.

Thanks to advances in sports science and medicine, it has at least been possible to re-create some of the expected conditions, but there is no doubt that not only the 12-month postponement but also the challenges surrounding the lack of access to the Olympic venue has had a huge impact on preparations for all of the athletes.
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• Hannah assesses the favorites in the Finn, ILCA 6, ILCA 7, and 470: click here.
• Here is her take on the RS:X, Nacra 17, 49er, and 49erFX medal hopefuls: click here.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Program
Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7
Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6
Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Men’s Skiff – 49er
Women’s Skiff – 49erFx
Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy – Finn
Men’s Windsurfing – RS:X
Women’s Windsurfing – RS:X
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17

Original dates: July 24 to August 9, 2020
Revised dates: July 23 to August 8, 2021

Details: https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/schedule/olympic/