FEATURE


Credit: IKA


Flying high to Paris 2024 by Andy Rice


It might seem like Tokyo 2020 has only just passed, especially seeing as it took place in the summer of 2021. With Paris 2024 just 18 months away, however, time in the Olympic calendar is whooshing by faster than ever.


After overseeing Team GB’s barnstorming success in Tokyo, the RYA’s Performance Director Mark Robinson is hard at work doing his best to make sure Paris is another successful Games for the sailors. “We’ve got a medal target of three to six medals, similar to Tokyo,” says Mark. “The challenge will be how many of those medals we can convert into gold. Two of our strongest disciplines, the Finn and the women’s 470, are no longer there, but we got early into the new events and there are some good signs of progress in the new foiling classes.”


8


In the rapidly developing kitefoiling scene, the Brits are coming on strong. Connor Bainbridge has reached the podium of major competitions on a number of occasions and Guy Bridge will push Bainbridge hard for selection. The women’s squad is working together very effectively, with three Brits placing in the top 10 of the World Championships in Sardinia last October: 3rd Ellie Aldridge, 4th Katie Dabson, 8th Maddy Anderson.


The other brand-new discipline is the iQFOiL foiling windsurfer which replaces the RS:X board from previous Games cycles. With the high levels of apparent wind generated by these efficient foiling machines, the athletes have had to put on weight to be able to harness the massive increase in power. Like the kitefoiling men, it’s quite common for the top men on the iQFOiL to weigh 90kg or


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27