Olympic Sailing: How did I get here?

Of the ten Sailing events at the Paris 2024 Olympics, only three of the competitions use boats most people can relate to: ILCAs and 470s. Everything else is a skiff, board, or catamaran. How did this premier event become so unlike the sport it represents?

The newly published World Sailing Olympic Vision is a 39-page document which offers some insight into the question, and where the sport is headed. Here are some excerpts:

• CONTEXT: The Olympic Games is an event wholly owned by the IOC and what happens at their event is, ultimately, their decision alone. While international federations may have their own ambitions for the staging of their sport in the Games, they are always secondary to the IOC’s.

• VISION: By 2032, Sailing’s presence in the Olympic Games increases in significance for the IOC.

• THE PLAN: Ensuring that decision-making on competition structures, events, equipment and format strengthen the position of Sailing within the Olympic Games.

What sailing looks like at the 2032 Olympics:
• Sailors compete using equipment which is supplied and which is less costly to produce.
• The best sailors and the sport’s biggest names are competing.
• Athletes from a greater number of Member National Authorities are competing.
• More female support staff and race officials and more support staff and race officials
from diverse backgrounds are visible at the Olympics.

To download a copy of World Sailing’s Olympic Vision, click here.

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/