Turning around USA Olympic Program

The US Olympic Sailing Program is under significant scrutiny following recent leadership turnover and litigation, but the program has been struggling for decades, highlighted at the London 2012 Olympics when the team failed to medal for the first time.

Following those 2012 Games, Sailing World magazine published an interview with Dean Brenner, chairman of U.S. Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee. Here’s an excerpt when Brenner was asked if it would be a a four-year turnaround or a 10-year job:

“I actually don’t even think it’s a 10-year turnaround. I think it’s a 20-year turnaround. And things take a lot time. We were listening to the BBC coverage last night, and I can’t remember his name, but there was a British cyclist who just won multiple medals, and he mentioned that there was a plan put in place 15 years ago with British cycling that’s now coming to fruition.

“I think we’ve seen the same thing with GBR sailing. You know, we put a plan in place. And the pillars of that plan are being put in place one by one. There are a couple of other pillars that we haven’t gotten to yet. We’ve got to work on our pipeline development plan.” – Full report

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/