Rio 2016 - Australian Olympic selection petition reaches 600 already

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 15 Jun 2016 An online petition has been launched on Change.org to show support for the nomination of an Australian crew in the 49erFX event at the 2016 Olympic Sailing Regatta in Rio de Janeiro.

Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks qualified as 9th ranked crew for the 2016 Olympics when they finished in 11th place in the 2014 ISAf World Championships in Santander Spain in the Women's Skiff event.

Two categories exist under the Australian Olympic selection policy for Nomination. To make the cut on the basis of being 'medal capable' at the 2016 Olympics, a crew must have finished in the top six in a 2015 or 2016 world championships, or top three in the 2015 Europeans or top two in named Sailing World Cup regattas at Hyeres or Weymouth.

In the 'medal potential'category for Tokyo 2020, a crew must finish in the top ten countries in the same regattas, on the basis that, to quote the policy, they: 'will benefit from the experience at the 2016 Olympic Games with a view to developing that Crew for the 2020 Olympic Games provided that that crew is likely to finish in the top 10 nation places at the 2016 Olympic Games and/or is a strong medal prospect for 2020 Olympic Games, based on recommendations from the Performance Director and Head Coach and/or demonstrated by achieving an overall top 10 nation place at the following regattas in 2015 or 2016 if the event is completed by 31st May 2016'

Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks have finished 11th in the 2014 Worlds, 14th in the 2015 World and 14th in the 2016 Worlds.

In terms of nations placings they were 12th nation in 2015, and 11th nation in the 2016 Worlds. In the latter regatta, they were just four points off being in the 10th nation place.

Given the changes that have been signalled by the International Olympic Committee for the 2020 Olympic Regatta, which were made after the Australian sailing selection policy was signed off by the AOC - which are for a 50/50 split in male and female competitors in terms of participation and medals - it is hard to understand how a Selection Panel can say that they are enhancing Australia's chances of success in 2020, by not selecting a women's crew in the 49erFX for the 2016 Olympic regatta.

The hair trigger differences inherent in the arbitrary application of the 'medal capable' selection systems is well demonstrated by young Laser Radial sailor Ashley Stoddart who missed qualifying Australia in the 2014 Worlds, but came back strongly in 2015 to both Qualify Australia in the event, and equally importantly finished 1pt inside the top 10 countries in that World Championship - to make the cut under the 2020 Olympics Medal Capable section of the selection policy.

In the recent 2016 Worlds, Stoddart finished 22nd and 16th country - nothing to get too excited about in the up and down world of single-handed sailing in one designs using supplied equipment. The decision to select Stoddart (22) with a view to Tokyo 2020 is correct and wise in a class that can take two Olympic cycles to medal.

The point being that if Stoddart, quite correctly, can be selected on being 1pt inside a 2020 Olympic potential selection benchmark, how can it be in the best interests of Australian sailing for a crew to be not selected on missing the same benchmark by 4pts?

It is believed that Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks' appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport will be held this week.

As it stands Australian will only be represented in two of four Women's events in the 2016 Olympics, plus one sailor in the Mixed team event (Nacra 17). Like their short-sighted cousins across the Tasman, Australian Sailing have set a course to be short on numbers in women's sailing for Rio 2016, knowing that women's sailing will be expanded in Tokyo 2020.

Makes sense? Not really.