World Sailing President Kim Andersen has claimed that the sport is in a strong position to lobby for a return to the programme at the Paralympic Games in time for Los Angeles 2028. This rings many bells in Ireland, as John Twomey of Kinsale has an unrivalled record of successful national representation in the Sailing discipline, which had featured at the Paralympics in every Games between Sydney 2000 and Rio 2016. But in 2015 it was announced it was being dropped for Tokyo 2020., and last year, it failed in a bid to return for Paris 2024.
Sailing was axed - along with football seven-a-side - for the Games in the Japanese capital because the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) claimed it could not fulfil their minimum criteria for worldwide reach.
"It was unfortunate that Parasailing was removed from the Paralympics before my tenure, but during my time this has been among my priorities to ensure that we put in place a strong Parasailing structure with the goal of once again being part of the Paralympic Games," Andersen said in a message released as part of his current election campaign for World Sailing’s Presidency.
"With our new 2020-2023 strategy for Parasailing, which shows how World Sailing will continue to grow, promote and develop all Para disciplines worldwide, I believe that we have a strong foundation to make our case to the IPC.
"Parasailing has a unique capacity to include people from all ages and abilities. Positive steps have been made over the past few years with the Parasailing Development Programmes to increase participation by 30 per cent. Furthermore, with our strong links to the IPC, we have already began discussions to getting back into the Paralympic programme for 2028".
