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Sailing at the 2024 Summer Olympics facts for kids

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Sailing
at the Games of the Olympiad
Sailing – Paris 2024.svg
Venue Marseille Marina
Dates 28 July – 8 August 2024
No. of events 10 (4 men, 4 women,2 mixed)
Competitors 330 (165 men and 165 women)
← 2020
2028 →

Sailing is a sport where athletes race boats or boards across water using wind power. At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, sailing competitions took place from July 28th to August 8th. The races were held at the Marseille Marina.

For these Games, the number of sailors was slightly reduced from 350 to 330. An important change was making sure there were an equal number of men and women competing. Also, new rules were added to help more countries take part in the qualifying process.

Sailing Events and Equipment Used

In the 2024 Summer Olympics, sailors competed in ten different events. Each event used a specific type of boat or board. Here's a list of the main events and the equipment they used:

  • For the Men's Single-handed Dinghy event, sailors used the ILCA 7 boat.
  • For the Women's Single-handed Dinghy event, sailors used the ILCA 6 boat.
  • For the Mixed Double-handed Dinghy event, two sailors worked together on a 470 boat.
  • For the Mixed Foiling Catamaran event, two sailors used a Nacra 17 boat. This boat lifts out of the water on foils, making it very fast!
  • For the Men's Skiff event, sailors used the 49er boat.
  • For the Women's Skiff event, sailors used the 49erFX boat.
  • For the Men's Windsurfer event, athletes used the IQFoil board.
  • For the Women's Windsurfer event, athletes also used the IQFoil board.
  • For the Men's Kiteboarding event, competitors used the Formula Kite equipment.
  • For the Women's Kiteboarding event, competitors also used the Formula Kite equipment.

The sport's leaders wanted to include new and exciting events. They added more mixed-gender events to keep the competition fair for both men and women.

How Athletes Qualified for Sailing Events

The total number of sailors was 330, with an equal number of men and women. To make sure many different countries could compete, the World Sailing organization made some changes to how athletes qualified.

First Chances to Qualify

The qualification period began at the 2023 Sailing World Championships in The Hague, Netherlands. About 107 spots were given out there. These spots went to the top-ranked countries in each of the ten sailing events.

Later Chances to Qualify

More spots were given out at the 2024 World Championships for the Men's ILCA 7 and Women's ILCA 6 events. Seven places were awarded to countries that had not yet qualified.

Sailors could also qualify through special events in their own parts of the world. For example, the 2023 Asian Games in China offered one spot for Asia. The Asian Olympic qualifier in Thailand offered two more.

Final Opportunities to Qualify

The remaining spots were decided at the 2024 Last Chance Regatta in Hyères, France. This event offered 39 more places. Also, the World Sailing Emerging Nations Program helped two male and two female sailors from developing countries to qualify.

As the host country, France automatically got one spot in each of the ten sailing classes.

Types of Boats and Boards Used

Here's a closer look at the different types of equipment used in the Olympic sailing events:

Class Type Event Gender Sailors Trapeze Mainsail Jib/Genoa Spinnaker First Year in Olympics
IQFoil Windfoiling Fleet Female 1 + 2024
IQFoil Windfoiling Fleet Male 1 + 2024
ILCA 6 Dinghy Fleet Female 1 + 2008
ILCA 7 Dinghy Fleet Male 1 + 1996
470 Dinghy Fleet Mixed 2 1 + + + 1976 (as a class), 2024 (as mixed)
49er Skiff Fleet Male 2 2 + + + 2000
49erFX Skiff Fleet Female 2 2 + + + 2016
Nacra 17 Multihull Fleet Mixed 2 2 + + + 2016
Formula Kite Kiteboard Fleet Female 1 + 2024
Formula Kite Kiteboard Fleet Male 1 + 2024
  • Type: This tells you what kind of boat or board it is (e.g., Dinghy, Windfoiling).
  • Event: All events were "Fleet" races, meaning many boats race at once.
  • Gender: Shows if the event is for men, women, or mixed teams.
  • Sailors: How many people are on the boat or board.
  • Trapeze: A special harness that allows sailors to lean out over the water for balance.
  • Mainsail, Jib/Genoa, Spinnaker: These are different types of sails. A "+" means the boat uses that type of sail, and a "–" means it doesn't.

Countries That Competed

A total of 65 countries, called National Olympic Committees (NOCs), sent sailors to the 2024 Summer Olympics. This list does not include "Individual Neutral Athletes" (AIN).

  •  Algeria (1)
  •  Angola (3)
  •  Antigua and Barbuda (1)
  •  Argentina (7)
  •  Aruba (2)
  •  Australia (12)
  •  Austria (9)
  •  Belgium (8)
  •  Bermuda (1)
  •  Brazil (12)
  •  British Virgin Islands (1)
  •  Canada (6)
  •  Cayman Islands (1)
  •  Chile (2)
  •  China (13)
  •  Colombia (1)
  •  Croatia (6)
  •  Cyprus (4)
  •  Czech Republic (3)
  •  Denmark (9)
  •  Egypt (2)
  •  El Salvador (1)
  •  Estonia (2)
  •  Fiji (2)
  •  Finland (4)
  •  France (14) host
  •  Germany (14)
  •  Great Britain (14)
  •  Greece (4)
  •  Guatemala (1)
  •  Hong Kong (5)
  •  Hungary (2)
  •  India (2)
  •  Ireland (4)
  •  Israel (8)
  •  Italy (12)
  •  Japan (7)
  •  Kuwait (1)
  •  Lithuania (2)
  •  Malaysia (2)
  •  Mauritius (2)
  •  Mexico (2)
  •  Montenegro (1)
  •  Mozambique (1)
  •  Netherlands (11)
  •  New Zealand (12)
  •  Norway (5)
  •  Peru (3)
  •  Poland (10)
  •  Portugal (4)
  •  Puerto Rico (1)
  •  Romania (1)
  •  Saint Lucia (1)
  •  Samoa (2)
  •  Singapore (2)
  •  Slovakia (1)
  •  Slovenia (6)
  •  South Korea (1)
  •  Spain (13)
  •  Sweden (8)
  •  Switzerland (7)
  •  Thailand (4)
  •  Turkey (8)
  •  United States (13)
  •  Uruguay (3)

Sailing Competition Schedule

The sailing events took place over many days. "S" means a series of races, and "MR" means the Medal Race, which is the final race for medals.

Legend
S Series races MR Medal race (top 10 double scoring)
Schedule
Event ↓ / Date → Sun 28 Mon 29 Tue 30 Wed 31 Thu 1 Fri 2 Sat 3 Sun 4 Mon 5 Tue 6 Wed 7 Thu 8 Fri 9
Men's Events
IQFoil S MR
Formula Kite S MR
ILCA 7 S MR
49er S MR
Women's Events
IQFoil S MR
Formula Kite S MR
ILCA 6 S MR
49er FX S MR
Mixed Events
470 S MR
Nacra 17 S MR

Medal Winners in Sailing

Here's a summary of which countries and athletes won medals in the sailing events.

Overall Medal Count by Country

This table shows how many gold, silver, and bronze medals each country won in sailing.

  *   Host nation (France)

Rank NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Netherlands 2 0 2 4
2  Austria 2 0 0 2
 Italy 2 0 0 2
4  Australia 1 1 0 2
 Israel 1 1 0 2
6  Great Britain 1 0 1 2
7  Spain 1 0 0 1
8  France* 0 1 1 2
 New Zealand 0 1 1 2
 Sweden 0 1 1 2
11  Argentina 0 1 0 1
 Cyprus 0 1 0 1
 Denmark 0 1 0 1
 Japan 0 1 0 1
 Slovenia 0 1 0 1
16  Norway 0 0 1 1
 Peru 0 0 1 1
 Singapore 0 0 1 1
 United States 0 0 1 1
Totals (19 entries) 10 10 10 30

Men's Event Medalists

Event Gold Silver Bronze
iQFoil
details
Tom Reuveny
 Israel
Grae Morris
 Australia
Luuc van Opzeeland
 Netherlands
Formula Kite
details
Valentin Bontus
 Austria
Toni Vodišek
 Slovenia
Maximilian Maeder
 Singapore
Laser
details
Matthew Wearn
 Australia
Pavlos Kontides
 Cyprus
Stefano Peschiera
 Peru
49er
details
 Spain
Diego Botín
Florián Trittel
 New Zealand
Isaac McHardie
William McKenzie
 United States
Ian Barrows
Hans Henken

Women's Event Medalists

Event Gold Silver Bronze
iQFoil
details
Marta Maggetti
 Italy
Sharon Kantor
 Israel
Emma Wilson
 Great Britain
Formula Kite
details
Ellie Aldridge
 Great Britain
Lauriane Nolot
 France
Annelous Lammerts
 Netherlands
Laser radial
details
Marit Bouwmeester
 Netherlands
Anne-Marie Rindom
 Denmark
Line Flem Høst
 Norway
49erFX
details
 Netherlands
Odile van Aanholt
Annette Duetz
 Sweden
Vilma Bobeck
Rebecca Netzler
 France
Sarah Steyaert
Charline Picon

Mixed Event Medalists

Event Gold Silver Bronze
470
details
 Austria
Lara Vadlau
Lukas Mähr
 Japan
Keiju Okada
Miho Yoshioka
 Sweden
Anton Dahlberg
Lovisa Karlsson
Nacra 17
details
 Italy
Ruggero Tita
Caterina Banti
 Argentina
Mateo Majdalani
Eugenia Bosco
 New Zealand
Micah Wilkinson
Erica Dawson

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Vela en los Juegos Olímpicos de París 2024 para niños

  • Sailing at the 2022 Asian Games
  • Sailing at the 2023 Pan American Games
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