At the 1900 Olympic Games Paris, sailing made its first appearance. The women’s events weren’t included until the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Nowadays, there are 8 classes of sailing in the Olympic Games:
- 470 - TWO Person Dinghy (Men and Women categories)
- 49ER - SKIFF Men
- 49ER FX Women
- Finn - One Person Dinghy (Heavyweight) Men
- Laser - One Person Dinghy  Men
- Laser Radial - One Person Dinghy Women
- RS:X - Windsurfer (Men and Women categories)
- Nacra 17 Mixed
Sailors compete in a series of 11 races. The athletes compete 2 - 4 laps in each race to earn points, the points are counted based on the finishing position - The 1st place gets 1 point, the 2nd receives 2 points and so on. The top 10 athletes with the lowest points in total compete in the final race, the team with the lowest points scored wins.
Australia’s won their first Olympic medals in Melbourne at the 1956 Olympic Games. Jock Sturrock and Dev Mytton won the Bronze medal in the 5.5 metre class and Rolly Tasker with John Scott won silver in the Sharpies class.
At Rio 2016 the Australian Sailing team won:
- Gold Medal - Laser Class - with Tom Burton
- Silver Medal - 470 Class - with Mathew Belcher & Will Ryan
- Silver Medal - 49er Class - with Nathan Outteridge & Iain Jensen
- Silver Medal - Nacra - with Jasen Waterhouse & Lisa Darmanin
If you want to follow the Australian Sailing Team this is the official website: https://www.australiansailingteam.com.au
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