Guide Note

Sailing is one of 28 sports in the Summer Olympics. Athletes compete in 11 sailing events: four men's, four women's and three mixed.¹

Fast Facts

1. Introduced to the Olympics in 1900²
2. 11 Olympic sailing events¹
3. Four men's, four women's and three mixed events¹
4. Called yachting until 2000 Olympics in Sydney³

Sailing events were held from August 9 to August 21, 2008, at the Qingdao International Marina. Great Britain took home the most medals, winning six. Australia and France won two medals each, while Spain, the United States, China, the Netherlands, Brazil and Italy earned two medals each.⁴

Sailing (then called yachting) made its first Olympic appearance in 1900.³ It had been scheduled for the 1896 Olympic Games, however poor weather forced its cancellation.²

The structure of the sport has changed over the years. Co-ed events were held from 1900 to 1988. After that, both gender-specific and co-ed events have been held.³ The type of boat has also changed, with large 10- or 12-person boats used in the early 1900s. Now smaller one to four-person boats are used.³

• Men's keelboat¹
• Men's one person dinghy¹
• Men's two person dinghy¹
• Men's windsurfer¹
• Mixed heavyweight dinghy¹
• Mixed multihull¹
• Mixed skiff¹
• Women's keelboat¹
• Women's one person dinghy¹
• Women's two person dinghy¹
• Women's windsurfer¹

Summer Olympics 2008 | US Olympic Sailing 2008 | Sailing | Olympics | Summer Olympics |