#paralympicsailing – The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced that the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games will feature 22 sports, with badminton and taekwondo included for the first time. Two sports not included in Tokyo 2020 are football 7-a-side and sailing.
Ireland has been at the forefront of paralympic sailing hosting the International Federation of Disabled Sailing (IFDS) Paralympic worlds in Kinsale in County Cork in 2013. IFDS president John Twomey (58) of Kinsale has represented Ireland at an astonishing ten successive Paralympics, dating back to Toronto in 1976 in both discus and sailing disciplines.
The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) has been one of the first to issue a statement over the cut: 'This is hugely disappointing news for the sport of disabled sailing worldwide, for British Sailing Team athletes who are already working hard towards Tokyo, and is a loss to the Paralympic Games itself as sailing provides a unique element to the sporting programme'.
At its meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on Saturday (31 January), the IPC Governing Board approved a further six sports for inclusion in the Games, adding to the 16 sports that were ratified and announced after its meeting in October 2014. A maximum of 23 sports could have been included for 2020.
The 22 sports that will be included in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games are: athletics, archery, badminton, boccia, canoe, cycling, equestrian, football 5-a-side, goalball, judo, powerlifting, rowing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.
