Forecasting Olympic success

Successful Olympic programs are about refining today’s talent but equally about developing tomorrow’s competitors. And ideally, there is national depth to help the cream rise.

While there is no certainty about what types of equipment will be used in the Olympic Sailing Program, the ILCA remains the dominant singlehanded boat in the world, and the ILCA U21 World Championship should be a very good measure of future Olympic success.

The 2023 competition, which is for sailors from 17 to 21 years of age, attracted 114 men in the ILCA 7 and 66 women in the ILCA 6 to take the test on October 17-22 in Tanger, Morocco. Finley Dickinson (GBR) was the top male with three Italians in the top 10. Eve McMahon (IRL) was the top female with five Italians in the top 10.

Men and women from Italy finished in the top ten at the 2023 ILCA World Championship, and with that kind of depth at the U21 stage, look out for that nation at Los Angeles 2028 and beyond. As for North America, here are the results for Canada and USA:

ILCA 6
10. Audrey Foley (USA)
44. Lilly Rainham (CAN)
48. Isabella Mendoza Cabezas (USA)
54. Anna Parolin (CAN)

ILCA 7
76. Kelley Poole (CAN)
85. Finn O’Sullivan (CAN)
96. James Fair (CAN)

Details: https://2023ilcau21.ilca-worlds.org/