PARIS 2024
PAUL MEILHAT: “FRANCE CAN BEAT ITS RECORD NUMBER OF MEDALS AT THE OLYMPIC SAILING GAMES”
Sailing has a long history in the Olympic Games. Events were planned for the Athens Games in 1896, but were not held because of the weather.
But four years later, the first competitions took place at the Olympic Games in Paris. That was 124 years ago, 89 years before the first Vendée Globe. Sailing has progressively evolved and recently included foils. It has become a key sport, to the point that an ocean racing event was once envisaged for Paris 2024. Before the competitions get underway in Marseilles, the Vendée Globe team caught up with Paul Meilhat to understand the link between Olympic sailing and ocean racing.
In 2024, the sailing categories selected for the Games are :
- Women’s and men’s foil windsurfing (IQFoil)
- Women’s and men’s double-handed dinghy (49ers)
- Women’s and men’s single-handed dinghy (laser, ILCA)
- Women’s and men’s kiteboarding (foil)
- Mixed double foiling catamaran (Nacra 17)
- Mixed double-handed dinghy (470)
