The battle for the tenth sailing medal: Two kite medals instead of mixed offshore?

Straightforward and focussed: On 14 May, the members of the World Sailing Federation discussed and voted on the alternative proposals requested by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the wobbly candidate Mixed Offshore. As the IOC is clearly struggling to confirm the new discipline Mixed Offshore proposed by World Sailing for the 2024 Olympics, the men and women of the five rings had requested alternative proposals from the World Sailing Federation. Three qualified for closer scrutiny by World Sailing's expert commissions. Two came through in the vote of the national member associations on Friday: the division of the mixed team competition in IQ foiling, which had already been confirmed as an Olympic event for 2024, into a women's and a men's competition as the delegates' number one proposal. In addition, the proposed "backflip" in the 470, the retention of the current 470 format with one women's and one men's competition instead of the mixed discipline currently planned for 2024 as proposal number two on the short list for the IOC.

The voting process, in which an overwhelming majority of 97.37 per cent of the members voted in favour of the list of proposals in the order "Kite Split" before "470 Split" with a unity rarely seen before, was preceded by several good presentations and a wide-ranging discussion. The fear of losing the tenth sailing medal altogether with overly complicated proposals and too much bickering was repeatedly audible and tangible in the digital space at the World Sailing Federation's online semi-annual meeting that day. In the end, there were far more arguments in favour of the "kite split" than the "470 split". The list of alternative proposals will now be sent to the IOC in this order.

World Sailing's Vice President Marcus Spillane had warned before the decision was made: "Mixed offshore remains our first choice and I know that discussions are ongoing. The vote on the alternative proposals is now about making a good and strategically smart decision for 2024. The split in Kite would bring the least disruption for the athletes who have been training for a long time and offers good opportunities to increase the number of participating countries." It is well known that the latter is particularly popular with the IOC. For the kiters, an IOC decision in their favour and thus the chance of a second medal would actually increase the country's chances. After all, there are a number of outstanding male and female candidates internationally who lack a partner on an equal footing in their own country for participation at Olympic level. Should the IOC decide against mixed offshore and in favour of IQFoil with a women's and a men's competition, individual strong female or male athletes could qualify for the 2024 Olympics and compete for a medal without having to rely on an equal team partner.

The fight for mixed offshore as an Olympic discipline continues

The final decision on the 2024 Olympic sailing programme lies with the IOC. It is due to be made by the Executive Board on 8 June. In addition to the list of alternative proposals requested by the IOC and known as of today, in the order favoured by World Sailing of "Kite Split" before "470 Split", the World Sailing Federation has submitted further new information on the mixed offshore discipline to the IOC with the broad approval of its expert commissions. The Offshore Doubles Sailing Association organisation also contributed to this. In a press release, the association stated: "Whatever the IOC decision, we will continue to fight for growth in the discipline. Many who are against the mixed offshore discipline for 2024 are in favour of it for 2028 because a) it represents a large proportion of our sport, b) it is very different from the other dinghy and board disciplines and c) it offers unique media and digital sporting opportunities."