Paralympics comeback movement #BacktheBid: Thomson joins in: Alex Thomson: "He recognised every arch long before I did"

The World Sailing Federation has reached an important milestone in the fight for a comeback at the Paralympics by submitting its official bid for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. This has now been announced by the London headquarters. World Sailing's CEO David Graham said on Tuesday: "Today is a pivotal moment - our LA28 bid for Para Sailing has been submitted. If our bid is successful, athletes from over 46 countries across six continents will represent their nations at one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Our global sailing family has spoken loud and clear and has come together to#BacktheBid to support this sport, which offers so many people so much, at the Paralympics again."

World circumnavigator and Vendée Globe star Alex Thomson, who is fully committed to the campaign, is also hoping for this.#BacktheBid and has herself had good experiences with disabled fellow sailors. "I will always be inspired by my blind crew member in the Clipper Race. He was so sensitive to the wind and the movements of the boat that he recognised every gust long before I did."

World Sailing's quest to be reinstated as a sport in the Paralympic Games began when sailing was removed from the Paralympic programme after the Rio de Janeiro Games.

"Now the International Paralympic Committee's Governing Board has the difficult task of reviewing the applications from the international federations bidding for a place in the LA28 sports programme, which currently includes 22 Paralympic sports - the same number as in Rio, Tokyo and Paris. Now more sports want to be included. Our work is far from done," explains Graham.

David Graham: "Paralympic sailing is flourishing"

Sailing's arguments are many and good: the rapid global growth of Paralympic sailing, World Sailing's targeted approach to increasing the number of female Para sailors and the fact that the sport is highly inclusive have brought it to the attention of the International Paralympic Committee, which will make a final decision on the Paralympic programme at the Los Angeles 2028 Games in January 2023. "Para Sailing is thriving, although the last few years have been challenging for the global sport," emphasised Graham on the bid submission. "We now have active Para sailors in 41 countries across five continents. Our dedicated Para Sailing Development Programme (PDP), which was launched in 2017, has been crucial to this. We kicked off 2022 with our first PDP in the Sultanate of Oman. Just a week ago, we organised our first ever Para Kiteboarding PDP."

Para Sailing is one of the most inclusive sports in the world: 44% of the top ten sailors at Para World Championships have high support needs. Sailing is also one of the few sports where men and women can compete alongside and against each other on equal terms - World Sailing's bid for LA28 reflects this with the proposed mixed men's and women's crews and fleets in all three proposed classes. Here the top SailGP players promote the #BacktheBid campaign (please click!).

World Sailing officially launched its campaign to reinstate the Paralympics last October, backed by world-renowned sailors and leading figures in the sport. Sweden's youngest athlete at a Paralympic Games - sailor Fia Fjelddahl - was 17 years old when she was selected as the flag bearer for the closing ceremony in Rio 2016: "Six years later - two Games later - I still can't put into words how it felt to carry Sweden's flag in Rio," recalls the sustainable engineering student. "Our sport is flourishing. As sailors, we have a special affinity with what surrounds us - we are constantly looking for solutions for our natural environment and for society. We have a lot to give to the Paralympic Games as everyone in the world is looking for the importance of sport and how it can improve the world we all live in."

The future of para-sailing

Sir Ben Ainslie CBE, the most successful Olympic sailor in the sport's history with four gold medals, is keen for Paralympic sailors to compete in Los Angeles: "Sailing is so inclusive and gives so many people the opportunity to work together as a team, regardless of their physical ability. That's why it's so important that sailing is back at the Paralympic Games for LA28."

In February, the International Paralympic Committee held a much-anticipated meeting with the international federations to discuss the LA28, outlining the conditions and timeline. "I said it in February and I'll say it again now: our Para Sailing strategy is fully aligned with the IPC Guiding Principles, we can meet the criteria and demonstrate that Para Sailing is one of the most inclusive, diverse and universal sports on the planet today," emphasises David Graham.

Heiko Kröger can only confirm this. The 56-year-old Paralympics winner from 2000 is a ten-time world champion and 15-time German champion. Kröger recently sailed to third place at the 2.4 mR European Championships, of which he is the class president, and won his 13th title at the Kieler Woche. His plea in favour of Paralympic sailing is as simple as it is convincing: "Sailing is extremely inclusive. It allows sailors with different abilities to compete in boats at the same level."