Plenty on the line at the ILCA 7 Worlds

It remains necessary for both Canada and USA to qualify for the Men’s One Person Dinghy event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, with the 2024 ILCA 7 World Championship offering that opportunity on January 26-31 in Adelaide, Australia.

With a total of 153 athletes from 53 countries competing, it will be necessary to finish among the top seven competitors who represent countries that have not already qualified for Paris 2024.

For Canada, they are sending eight sailors to achieve the goal, while the USA is sending seven entrants. The American contingent will then be doing a quick turnaround as the US Olympic Team Trials, which will select their representative for Paris 2024, is being held February 17-24 in Miami, FL.

If unsuccessful in claiming Olympic entry at the Worlds, there remains one final opportunity at the 2024 Semaine Olympique Française on April 18-27 in Hyeres, France.

While neither country is scoring high internationally in the ILCA 7, Canada seeks to avoid a repeat from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when the country didn’t qualify in this event for the first time since ILCA 7 made its Olympic debut in 1996.

For each of the ten events in which Canada qualifies a spot for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, athletes and teams can qualify themselves by being the athlete/team with the lowest score combined position from the 2024 World Championships in their respective classes and the 2024 Princess Sofia Regatta, added together, with selection being based on a sailing scoring system (lowest score first).

If there is a tie, the athlete/team in the higher position (based on the sailing scoring system) at the 2024 Princess Sofia Regatta (March 29-April 6; Mallorca, Spain) will qualify to be nominated. If an event is cancelled, it will be replaced by the 2024 European Championships in that class.

Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Program*:
Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7 (41)
Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6 (41)
Mixed Two Person Dinghy – 470 (19)
Men’s Skiff – 49er (20)
Women’s Skiff – 49erFX (20)
Men’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class (20)
Women’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class (20)
Men’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL (24)
Women’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL (24)
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17 (19)
* Quota per event in parenthesis but does not include Universality Places (2 men, 2 women)

Venue: Marseille, France
Dates: July 28-August 9

Details:
• Paris website: https://www.paris2024.org/en/the-olympic-games-paris-2024/
• World Sailing microsite: https://paris2024.sailing.org/