Sailing has not been included by the International Paralympic Committee for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

World Sailing has been informed by the IPC that sailing is not in compliance with one or more of the core criteria for Games inclusion as stipulated in the IPC Handbook. The IPC Handbook states: “For Paralympic Games Only individual sports and disciplines widely and regularly practiced in a minimum of 32 countries and three IPC regions may be considered for inclusion in the Paralympic Games.”

“We worked tirelessly to ensure sailing met the IPC criteria and our application was of a high standard and everyone at World Sailing is deeply saddened by the news from the IPC,” said Andy Hunt, World Sailing CEO.

“Sailing is one of the most inclusive sports and caters for all athletes. Regardless of their classification, sailing’s athletes compete on a level playing field and we have reiterated this message to the IPC.

“So much has been achieved over the past few years in developing Para World Sailing and we will continue to provide a program of events for the sailors that compete regularly at a national and international level.”

Sailing was removed from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Sports Programme in January 2015 for failing to meet worldwide reach criteria. Following this news, World Sailing released a strategic plan for 2017-2020, outlining strategic goals and strategies that were adopted by World Sailing to gain re-inclusion into the Paralympic Games sports program.

At the 2018 Para World Sailing Championships, a record 101 sailors from 42 nations registered to race across four events in September in Wisconsin. At the 2017 and 2018 World Championships, World Sailing demonstrated that it met and exceeded the worldwide reach criteria and worked in close partnership with Member National Authorities, Class Associations, Event Organisers and sailors to ensure the best possible application to the IPC.

At the next Sailing World Championships, set to be held in The Hague, The Netherlands in 2022, the Para World Sailing Championships will be integrated for the first time.

Despite this setback for the discipline, World Sailing will continue to support the sailors as well as grow and promote Para World Sailing globally.

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