The Last Chance Regatta, which took place last week in the waters of Hyeres, effectively marked the conclusion of the long sailing Olympic qualification path towards the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The time has therefore come to draw an overall assessment for Italy, capable of considerably raising the bar compared to the previous Olympic cycle in Tokyo.
In Japan the blue movement was represented in 6 out of 10 classes, while in Marseille (home of the next five-circle regattas) it will field at least 9 crews. In fact, there is still a small possibility of completing the en plein and qualifying in all ten classes, in the event that Germany were to renounce the quota won in Hyeres in the 49er men’s aerobatic double (the Teutonic crews would not have in fact reached the minimum requirements internal to go to the Games).
Regardless of the possible repechage in the 49ers, the Road to Paris of the tricolor Olympic sailing proved to be extremely positive not only for the quantity of passes obtained but above all for the quality of those who will be used at the Olympics. In fact, there are at least 5-6 possible medal cards for Italy in view of an edition of the Games that could bring great satisfaction to Italian sailing.
The unified World Championship in Den Haag, the first chance to gain qualification, promoted 7 blue boats in Marseille (Nacra 17, men’s and women’s Formula Kite, men’s and women’s iQFoil, ILCA7 men’s single and ILCA6 women’s single), while the last tickets they arrived at the 2023 European Championships for the 49erFX and at the 2024 Last Chance Regatta for the 470 mixed.
It’s a shame not to have won the last quota in the 49er men’s doubles on the field with two good crews which however lacked something in the key events, but as previously reported there is still the possibility of showing up in France with the full team. Just a few more days of waiting and then we will know more in this regard.
