Asian Games 2026: Jeemin Ha KOR and Sophia Montgomery THA win the first Olympic spots for LA28
by Agustín Argüelles / ILCA 3 Oct 01:01 PDT
23 September - 2 October 2026
Asian Games 2026 © Junichi Hirai / World Sailing
Jeemin Ha of South Korea and Sophia Montgomery of Thailand have won the first Olympic places for Los Angeles 2028.
Ha took the ILCA 7 and Montgomery the ILCA 6 at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on 2 October, in a 15-knot north-westerly that gusted over 20 knots in the morning. Both classes finished with a final series at Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor in Gamagori. These were the only two LA28 sailing quotas on offer at the Games, so the ILCA class opened qualification for the whole Olympic cycle.
Montgomery dominates the women's fleet
Montgomery was in a class of her own. She closed the regatta on 5 points, well clear of Singapore's Jania Ang in second with 13 and India's Nethra Kumanan in third with 14. A steady, controlled performance in a windy final race sealed the win. It earns Thailand a continental quota place in the women's dinghy.
At 23, the Thai-American sailor from Bangkok is already chasing her second Games. She sailed the ILCA 6 at Paris 2024, finishing 27th, which she has described as the best result Thailand has had in the event. This time she beat a fleet of 13 sailors from 13 nations.
Ha is "invincible" at the top of the men's fleet
Ha won the men's fleet on 9 points, with Hong Kong, China's Nicholas Halliday second on 11 and Malaysia's Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy third on 14. According to the Asian Sailing Federation, Ha was "invincible" in the final race, and he finished ahead of a fleet of 18 sailors from 18 nations.
It was his fourth Asian Games gold. At 37, Ha is a five-time Olympian competing in his fifth Asian Games. At Tokyo 2020 he finished 7th in the ILCA 7, the first South Korean sailor to place in the top 10.
What the result means
Both quotas belong to the countries, not the sailors. South Korea and Thailand earned the places, and each National Olympic Committee decides who uses them. Ha and Montgomery are the obvious candidates, but nothing formally binds the choice.
Asia's cycle has only just started. The continent has four continental quota places in each dinghy class, and the Asian Games supply one of them. Later events will award their places to the highest-placed nations not already qualified.
The next qualifier is the 2027 World Sailing Championships in Fortaleza, Brazil, in January, where the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 will race. The Lima 2027 Pan American Games follow, offering places to the Americas with up to 17 sailors per class. The host nation is already in: the USA gets one boat in each of the ten sailing events automatically.
Asian Games Overall Results: (top three)
ILCA 7 Men
- Jeemin Ha KOR 9 pts
- Nicholas Halliday HKG 11 pts
- Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy MAS 14 pts
ILCA 7 Men's Full results
ILCA 6 Women
- Sophia Montgomery THA 5 pts
- Jania Ang SGP 13 pts
- Nethra Kumanan IND 14 pts
ILCA 6 Women's Full results