Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport that has been part of the Olympic programme starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in Athens, Greece). With the exception of 1904 and possibly the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program in 2004 consisted of eleven disciplines divided over nine sailing classes. For each discipline multiple races were scheduled between 14 and 28 August 2004 along the coast near Athens. Athens hosted the Olympic sailing competitions for the second time, having done so during the 1896 Summer Olympics. However, in 1896, the sailing competition was cancelled due to heavy storms and further bad weather conditions. This time the weather conditions were good. The sailing event was executed on the several types of Olympic courses in different course areas using the 'Fleetrace' and 'Matchrace' formats.
Venue
According to the IOC statutes, the contests in all sport disciplines must be held either in, or as close as possible to the city which the IOC has chosen. Among others, an exception can be made for the Olympic sailing events. However the situation in Athens is very suitable for sailing. Therefore, the racing was organized at the Agios Kosmos Marina at the coastal area of Southern Attica some 14 km south of Athens city centre and close to the old airport. This harbor was built in the 1960s but for the 2004 Summer Games it was completely reconstructed to form the Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre. The Agios Kosmas Olympic Sailing Centre was completed on 31 January 2004. On clear day the Acropolis could be seen from the course areas.
Competition
Overview ContinentsCountriesDisciplinesClassesBoatsWomenMenSailors 6 60 11 9 268 139 261 400
Continents Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America
Countries During the 2004 Summer Olympics sixty-one countries competed in the Olympic sailing regattas. Australia, France, Italy, Great Britain, Greece, Spain and the USA were each present in all classes with a total of eighteen sailors (7 women and 11 men) per country.
Classes (equipment) Class Type Event Sailors Trapeze Mainsail Jib/Genoa Spinnaker First OG Olympics so far Europe Dinghy 1 0 + – – 1992 4 Mistral One Design Class Sailboard 1 0 + – – 1996 3 Mistral One Design Class Sailboard 1 0 + – – 1996 3 Laser Dinghy 1 0 + – – 1996 3 Finn Dinghy 1 0 + – – 1952 14 470 Dinghy 2 1 + + + 1988 5 470 Dinghy 2 1 + + + 1976 8 49er Dinghy 2 2 + + + 2000 2 Tornado Multihull 2 2 + + + 1976 8 Yngling Keelboat 3 0 + + + 2004 1 Star Keelboat 2 0 + + - 1932 16
Race schedule ● Opening ceremony ● Practice races ● Competition day ● Last day of racing ● Closing ceremony Date August12Thu13Fri14Sat15Sun16Mon17Tue18Wed19Thu20Fri21Sat22Sun23Mon24Tue25Wed26Thu27Fri28Sat29Sun Women'sSailing Men'sMixed● ● ● ●● ● ● ●● ● ●● ● ● ●● ● ● ●● ● ●2 22 2 2 2 2 21 2 2 222 1 2 22 2 11 2 2 22 2 2 2 31 2 2 21 2 2 2 21 22 2 322 22 22 222 11 2 13 22 22 Women'sFinals Men'sMixed ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ●● Total gold medals 1 2 3 2 2 2 Ceremonies ● ●
Medal summary
Women's events
2004: Women's Mistral One Design France (FRA)Faustine Merret China (CHN)Yin Jian Italy (ITA)Alessandra Sensini 2004: Europe Norway (NOR)Siren Sundby Czech Republic (CZE)Lenka Šmídová Denmark (DEN)Signe Livbjerg 2004: Women's 470 Greece (GRE)Sofia BekatorouAimilia Tsoulfa Spain (ESP)Sandra AzónNatalia Vía Dufresne Sweden (SWE)Therese TorgerssonVendela Zachrisson 2004: Yngling Great Britain (GBR)Shirley RobertsonSarah WebbSarah Ayton Ukraine (UKR)Ruslana TaranGanna KalininaSvitlana Matevusheva Denmark (DEN)Dorte JensenHelle JespersenChristina Otzen
Men's events
2004: Men's Mistral One Design Israel (ISR)Gal Fridman Greece (GRE)Nikolaos Kaklamanakis Great Britain (GBR)Nick Dempsey 2004: Finn Great Britain (GBR)Ben Ainslie Spain (ESP)Rafael Trujillo Poland (POL)Mateusz Kusznierewicz 2004: Men's 470 United States (USA)Paul FoersterKevin Burnham Great Britain (GBR)Nick RogersJoe Glanfield Japan (JPN)Kazuto SekiKenjiro Todoroki 2004: Star Brazil (BRA)Torben GraelMarcelo Ferreira Canada (CAN)Ross MacDonaldMike Wolfs France (FRA)Pascal RambeauXavier Rohart
Open events
2004: Laser Brazil (BRA)Robert Scheidt Austria (AUT)Andreas Geritzer Slovenia (SLO)Vasilij Žbogar 2004: 49er Spain (ESP)Iker MartínezXabier Fernández Ukraine (UKR)Rodion LukaGeorge Leonchuk Great Britain (GBR)Chris DraperSimon Hiscocks 2004: Tornado Austria (AUT)Roman HagaraHans-Peter Steinacher United States (USA)John LovellCharlie Ogletree Argentina (ARG)Santiago LangeCarlos Espínola
Medal table
Further reading
References
External links Official result book – Sailing