New funding for US Olympic Program

While the US Olympic Sailing Program struggles to share their operations to the public, this report by US Sailing indicates there is proof of life:

The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has granted significant additional funding to the US Olympic Sailing Team to support performance in Marseille for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

After hearing the vision and plans for the Team and for improving athlete performance from High Performance Director Marcus Lynch, the USOPC expressed its confidence in the Team’s path to the podium in 2024 and beyond and offered this additional investment in the US Olympic Sailing Team.

The funding will be used by US Sailing to support athletes competing at the 2024 Olympic Games, specifically to improve the resources surrounding the Team USA base at the sailing venue including physiotherapy, strength and conditioning services, equipment optimization and maintenance, specialist input, performance analysis, and venue knowledge.

The funding will also help increase the bank of information available to athletes about the physical and mental sides of competition at the Olympic Games.

“We are looking to be one of the most informed teams at the Olympic venue this summer,” said Lynch. “We want to create a world class training and competition environment for athletes in Marseille so they can realize their full potential during the Games.”

Additional funding allows the US Sailing Team to increase and further optimize resources and services offered to athletes in the period leading up to the Games in July.

“Having access to training on the Field of Play whilst being supported with onshore services from May until the Games is a competitive advantage when benchmarking against many nations,” Lynch continued.

“Every hour of performance support in and around the Field of Play and the on-land environment has a positive impact on the marginal gains that often make the difference between a podium finish or not at the Olympic Games. We are grateful for the USOPC’s partnership and its confidence in our efforts to best support our athletes.”

Editor’s note: As we understand how the USOPC had previously reduced funding due to a lack of confidence, the question is then asked by Dean Brenner, US Team leader for the 2008 and 2012 Games: “Without specificity about ‘how much they were getting before’ and ‘how much more they are getting now’, this announcement is really hard to analyze and take seriously. In the eight years I was involved, there was ALWAYS additional funding in the Olympic year. The magic number is the answer to the question, ‘How much more?'”

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/