By The Associated Press undefined
A roadmap to follow for the sailing competition at the Paris Games:
Athletes to Watch
—Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze, Brazil: They won gold medals at the last two Olympics in the women’s skiff known as 49erFX.
—Stu McNay, United States: The 42-year-old McNay has competed in the past four Olympics and will race in Marseille in the mixed dinghy known as 470 together with Lara Dallman-Weiss. They’ll face stiff competition from Spain’s Jordi Xammar and Nora Brugman, who used to compete for the U.S.
—Daniela Moroz, United States: The San Francisco native has won six world championships in kitesurfing.
—Luuc van Opzeeland, Netherlands: The 25-year-old Dutchman is the reigning world champion in men’s windsurfing-iQFOiL.
Storylines to Follow
—Kitesurfing is a new sport at these Games for men and women — and the athletes will compete at some the fastest speeds of any Olympic sports in the open sea. Windsurfing-iQFOiL is also new. The other events are men’s and women’s dinghy, kite, skiff plus two mixed races — dinghy and multihull.
—U.S. redemption? The once-dominant U.S. Olympic sailing team has been in a persistent slump since the 2012 Games, but it’s looking for redemption with veterans like Stu McNay (mixed 470s) and six-time world champion Daniela Moroz (kitesurfing).
Key Dates
Racing starts July 28 in Marseille. The last day of finals is Aug. 8.
Reigning Champions
—Women’s dinghy: Anne-Marie Rindom, Denmark.
—Women’s skiff: Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze, Brazil.
—Men’s dinghy: Matt Wearn, Australia.
—Men’s skiff: Dylan Fletcher-Scott and Stuart Bithell, Britain.
—Mixed multihull: Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti, Italy.