US Sailing releases Rio 2016 Olympic Trials System

by Will Ricketson on 17 Dec 2014 US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) has released the selection procedures for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team (Sailing) in the 10 events selected for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. The Games of the XXXI Olympiad will take place from August 5-21, 2016, and the sailing events will be based at Marina de Gloria on Rio de Janeiro’s harbor front. The largest sporting event in the world, the Olympic Games will feature approximately 10,500 athletes from over 200 countries competing in 306 medal events. The sailing events will feature up to 380 athletes competing in ten classes.

'We had one goal in this process, and that was to implement a fair selection system that allows the top fifteen athletes to distinguish themselves while giving them the best chance of success in Rio 2016, ' said Benjamin Richardson (Gloucester, Mass.), Chairman of the OSC.

Athletes seeking to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team (Sailing) will have the opportunity to do so based on their combined performance at two major international events per class. Selection events for US athletes will include the following:

Laser, Laser Radial, RS:X Men, RS:X Women, and Finn Classes:

• First Event: ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, Miami, Florida, January 25–30, 2016
• Second Event: Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, late March, 2016

470 Men and 470 Women Classes:

• First Event: World Championships, San Isidro, Argentina, February 2016
• Second Event: 470 Europeans, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, March 18-25, 2016

49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 Classes:

• First Event: ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, Miami, Florida, January 25–30, 2016
• Second Event: World Championships, Clearwater, Florida, February 7 –14, 2016

The 10 sailing classes selected for the 2016 Olympic Games:

• Finn (Heavyweight Dinghy)
• Laser Radial (Women’s One Person Dinghy)
• Laser (Men’s One Person Dinghy)
• 470 Men (Men’s Two Person Dinghy)
• 470 Women (Women’s Two Person Dinghy)
• 49er (Men’s Two Person Dinghy High Performance)
• 49erFX (Women’s Two Person Dinghy High Performance)
• RS:X (Men’s Windsurfer)
• RS:X (Women’s Windsurfer)
• Nacra 17 (Mixed Two Person Multihull)

US Sailing will send a maximum of one boat per event (pending country qualification) to the 2016 Olympic Games for a maximum team size of 15. Upon approval from the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), the qualifying athletes will be named to the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team (Sailing) and will compete in the 2016 Olympic regatta.

All selection procedures have been reviewed and approved by the USOC Team Selection Working Group. For additional details about the selection procedures for the 2016 Olympic Team – Sailing, please click here.

The selection procedures for the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team (Sailing) are currently being finalized and will be announced in early 2015.