World Sailing, the world governing body for the sport, has reached a major milestone in its Paralympic quest by submitting the official application for inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.
"Today is a pivotal moment - our LA28 bid for Para Sailing is in.
"If our bid is successful, athletes from over 46 countries on six continents will be representing their nations at one of the world's biggest sporting events. Our global sailing family has spoken loud and clear, coming together to #BacktheBid - to see this sport, which offers so much to so many people, back in the Paralympics," said David Graham, CEO of World Sailing.
World Sailing's ambition to be reinstated into the Paralympic Games started the moment it was removed after Rio 2016.
The fast global growth of Para Sailing, the highly focused approach World Sailing is taking to increasing the number of female Para Sailors, and the fact that the sport is highly inclusive puts it in the frame for consideration by the International Paralympic Committee, which will finally decide in January 2023.
Para Sailing is thriving despite what has been a challenging few years for global sport," underlined Graham. "We now have Para Sailors active in 41 countries on five continents. Our dedicated Para Sailing Development Programme (PDP), created in 2017, has been key. We kicked off 2022 with our first PDP to be held in the Sultanate of Oman and just one week ago we held our first ever Para Kiteboarding PDP."
Para Sailing is one of the most inclusive sports there is with 44% of the top 10 sailors at Para World Championships having high support needs.
Sailing is also one of the few sports where men and women can compete alongside and against each other on a level playing field - World Sailing's bid for LA28 reflects this with proposed mixed male and female crews, or fleets, across all three of the suggested classes
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