At the beginning, the Yachting
Sailing made its appearance at the Olympic Games in 1900, in Paris, postponed 4 years because of the bad weather conditions of the Athens Games in 1896. But it is from 1908, in London, that the sail will appear in the program of all the world multisports competitions to come. It is one of the oldest events of the Olympic Games and its history is marked by many international figures of sailing. It is worth noting that at the beginning, we do not speak of "Sailing", but of "Yachting", a name that the competition will keep until the Sydney Games in 2000. It will be the first Olympic sport to change its name.
At the beginning of the events, large boats were raced by crews of 10 to 12 sailors, with a tie-breaking time calculation. From 1924, and more particularly from 1950, the trend is towards smaller boats and one-designs, with fewer crews (today 2 maximum, except in 2008 when the Yngling class had 3 sailors per boat). Over the last 20 years, the fleet has evolved to accommodate new supports, as will be the case with the iQfoil, which will succeed the RS:X board after the Tokyo 2021 Games.
The sailing event brings together historical boats, such as the Finn or the 470, but also more recent boats, such as the 49er/49erFX, the Nacra 17 or the windsurf.
From mixed to separate events
Women have always been allowed to compete in Olympic sailing. The first woman to win an Olympic medal was a sailor. It is about the Swiss Hélène de Pourtalès, crew aboard Lérina, which in 1900 in Paris, won the gold on the first race and the silver on the second in the category of 1 to 2 tons.
If men and women are racing on the same pedestal, it is from 1988, at the Seoul Games, that the events are divided into two categories: men and women, with two teams in 470. However, in 1952, the Finn became a specifically male event. From 1992, women participated in solo events. Only the Nacra 17 event, which made its appearance at the 2016 Games in Brazil, was held with a mixed crew.
Which countries are leaders in the different events?
England is the country with the most Olympic medals, the cradle of yachting development. The United States comes just behind, while Norway, Spain and France also have several medals. Recently, Australia and New Zealand have stood out among the selected countries.
In the Men's 470, Australia, the United States and Great Britain have shared the gold medals, although Croatia won at the Rio Games in 2016. In women's, we find in leaders Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and the Netherlands on the last three games.
In Finn, the oldest sailing event, Great Britain won 5 consecutive gold medals. In Laser, Australia won two consecutive gold medals.
