February 8 - 14, 2015: Issue 201
International Paralympic Committee Removes Sailing from 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games programme
Daniel Fitzgibbons and Liesl Tesch - 2012 Gold Medallists
Yachting Australia – Australian Sailing Team statement on Tokyo 2020 Paralympic sports decision
By AST Comms, February 2, 2015
International Paralympic Committee removes sailing from the 2020 Paralympic Games programme
The International Paralympic Committee has determined the sporting programme for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with Sailing and 7-a-side football having been removed from the programme. The decision was published over the weekend. The full IPC press release is here.
Yachting Australia and the Australian Paralympic Committee have expressed their extreme disappointment about the decision to remove sailing from the sporting program at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The news is an enormous disappointment for the sport of disabled sailing worldwide and for the Australian Sailing Team and Squad athletes who are working hard, not only towards Rio2016, but also towards Tokyo 2020.
Yachting Australia President Matt Allen said, “The decision to take sailing out of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games has left us stunned. We will consult with our ISAF colleagues to support the case for sailing and for all avenues to be explored for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and beyond. We have spoken with the Australian Paralympic Committee who have offered their support and sought clarity on the decision from the International Paralympic Committee”, added Matt.
This is a loss to Paralympic sport as a whole as sailing provides unique opportunities for athletes with a disability to get involved with and participate in high performance sport and to compete on a world-class and paralympic level. Para-sailing caters for athletes with a wide range of physical impairments including those with high level disabilities such as quadriplegia, allowing sailors to steer and control boats using just a finger, toe or breath.
Australian Paralympic Committee President Glenn Tasker said: “Like our Yachting Australia and Australian Sailing Team colleagues, we are worried that this decision will have serious implications for the sport at all levels. But the APC remains fully committed to the Australian Paralympic Sailing programme and its athletes, and we are currently seeking more details from the International Paralympic Committee to gain a greater understanding of the avenues which may exist for the sport to be reintroduced in 2020 or at a later date.”
Australian Sailing has already qualified all Paralympic boats for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and only on the weekend, Paralympic gold medallists and IFDS World Champions Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch won their second consecutive gold medal at the Sailing World Cup in Miami.
“I, like the rest of the sailing community, was completely stunned by the news that sailing has been excluded from the 2020 Paralympic Games, Paralympic silver (2008) and gold medallist (2012) Daniel Fitzgibbon said from Miami.
“I have already visited Tokyo and inspected the sailing venue as have we invested considerable time and money in assets to be used for these games, so to say it took me by surprise would be an understatement.”
“Sailing is the only Paralympic sport that allows quadriplegics, such as myself, to compete against much more able athletes on an even and fair platform. And to take this opportunity away from future athletes in my situation, or worse, is a very disappointing decision.”
Yachting Australia will be discussing the situation with ISAF Disabled Sailing Committee as well as with the Australian Paralympic Committee over the upcoming weeks.
In the meantime we will continue to work diligently with our Paralympic athletes, supporting them towards the IFDS World Championships at the end of the year in Melbourne as well as on their road to Rio 2016.
About Australian Sailing’s Paralympic Performance Sailing Program
Australian Sailing is the performance arm of Yachting Australia in partnership with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and with support from the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC).
The Australian Sailing Team is the national representative team for Olympic and Paralympic class sailing and has currently six Paralympic athletes across the three boat classes SKUD 18, Sonar and 2.4mR on its team: www.australiansailing.org/teams/paralympic
The Australian Sailing Squad is the development program of the Australian Sailing Team and provides the pathway from elite youth to Olympic and Paralympic level competition. The Squad currently includes three Paralympic athletes, including Quadriplegic athlete Ame Barnbrook.
About Paralympic Sailing
Sailing appeared as a demonstration sport at the 1996 Atlanta Games and in 2000 gained full Paralympic sport status at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. It was included in the Paralympic Games Competition programme as a medal sport with events for the Sonar (three person keelboat) and the 2.4mR (single-person keelboat).
The same events were on show at Athens 2004 before the SKUD18 was introduced for the Beijing 2008 Paralympics Games as the equipment for the two-person dinghy outlining the evolution of sailing at the Games.
Paralympic Sailing is open to athletes with a limb loss / limb deficiency, cerebral palsy / brain injury, vision impairment, spinal and nerve injuries and other physical impairments.
Athletes compete in three events, which are non-gender specific: The single-person and three-person keelboats are open to most impairment groups. The two-person keelboat event is specifically designed for athletes with a severe impairment.
Australian Paralympic Medals since 2000:
2000 Noel Robins / Jamie Dunross / Graeme Martin Sonar – GOLD
2008 Daniel Fitzgibbon / Rachael Cox SKUD 18 – SILVER
Colin Harrison / Russell Boaden / Graeme Martin Sonar – BRONZE
2012 Daniel Fitzgibbon / Liesl Tesch SKUD 18 – GOLD
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ISAF Disabled Sailing Committee Statement
For immediate release: Wednesday 4 February 2015
Issued on behalf of ISAF
The ISAF Disabled Sailing Committee (IFDS) is profoundly disappointed by the decision of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to exclude sailing from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
IFDS responded in a timely and comprehensive manner to queries from IPC, with details of sailors that participate regularly in international regattas or national championships, on Paralympic boats.
IFDS ensures an extensive quadrennial program of international competitions replicating the Olympic Program organized by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), including ISAF Sailing World Cup. IFDS sanctions and organizes yearly Combined World Championships in the Paralympic classes.
Development has resulted in the regular addition of new countries to competitive sailing. The process of merging with ISAF (with a membership of 139 Member National Authorities) was completed in November of 2014, with the main aim of opening a whole new field for the development of disabled sailing. During the period of pre-merging, ISAF always respected the independence of IFDS decisions. Through ISAF’s development programmes, worldwide participation initiatives and event structure, the opportunities for disabled sailing are better than ever before.
IFDS fully appreciates how devastated all the stakeholders are by IPC's decision, be they sailors, coaches, sponsors, National Sailing or Paralympic Authorities.
Now ISAF will promptly address any items identified by the IPC in a bid to reinstate sailing back into the Paralympic Games as soon as possible.
