Sailing at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Dates 25 July – 4 August 2021
Medal Events 10

The Tokyo 2020 sailing program was exactly the same as in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro. There were 10 events with five for men, four for women, and a mixed multi-hull event, raced in Nacra 17 boats. Both the men and women raced a windsurfing event (in Neil Pryde RS:X boats), a one-handed dinghy event (Laser for men, Laser Radial for women), a two-handed dinghy event (470 boats for both), and a skiff (the 49er for men, and 49er FX for women).

The men’s additional event was the traditional one-handed heavyweight dinghy event, raced in Finn boats since 1952, and a monotype dinghy event had been contested since 1928. However, this would be the last Olympics for the Finn class, to be replaced in 2024 at Paris by a mixed two-person dinghy event.

Tokyo sailing events took place in the Sagami Bay, racing out of the Enoshima Yacht Harbour. This was the same site that held the 1964 sailing (then yachting) events at those Tokyo Olympics, although the marina had since been re-built. Sagami Bay was renowned for its large waves, which meant the schedule had to be adjusted somewhat when Typhoon Nepartak formed off the coast of Japan and came into Tokyo on the evening of the middle Monday, and the morning of the middle Tuesday, necessitating officials to postpone some of the races.

Great Britain led the medal lists, both in terms of medals won, with five, and gold medals won, with three. Australia won two gold medals while France, Germany, and the Netherlands all won three medals. The four women’s events were divided among four nations – Brazil, China, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, while the men’s events saw Australia and Great Britain lead the way with two medals, both gold, for each nation. Traditional sailing power the United States was shut out of the medals, as they had been in 2012 at London, and had now won only a single sailing bronze medal since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Great Britain’s Giles Scott defended his title in the men’s Finn class, as did Brazilians Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze in the women’s 49er FX class. Hannah Mills (GBR) also defended a title in the women’s 470 class, but with a different partner than in 2016 at Rio.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
Windsurfer (Neil Pryde RS:X), Men Olympic 25 – 31 July 2021 25 25
One Person Dinghy (Laser), Men Olympic 25 July – 1 August 2021 35 35
Two Person Dinghy (470), Men Olympic 28 July – 4 August 2021 38 19
Skiff (49er), Men Olympic 27 July – 3 August 2021 38 19
One Person Heavyweight Dinghy (Finn), Men Olympic 27 July – 3 August 2021 19 19
Windsurfer (Neil Pryde RS:X), Women Olympic 25 – 31 July 2021 27 27
One Person Dinghy (Laser Radial), Women Olympic 25 July – 1 August 2021 44 44
Two Person Dinghy (470), Women Olympic 28 July – 4 August 2021 42 21
Skiff (49er FX), Women Olympic 27 July – 3 August 2021 42 21
Multihull (Nacra 17), Mixed Olympic 28 July – 3 August 2021 40 20
350 (175/175) 65 (62/53)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Windsurfer, Men Kiran BadloeNED Thomas GoyardFRA Bi KunCHN
One Person Dinghy, Men Matthew WearnAUS Tonči StipanovićCRO Hermann TomasgaardNOR
Two Person Dinghy, Men AustraliaAUS SwedenSWE SpainESP
Skiff, Men Great BritainGBR New ZealandNZL GermanyGER
One Person Heavyweight Dinghy, Men Giles ScottGBR Zsombor BereczHUN Joan CardonaESP
Windsurfer, Women Lu YunxiuCHN Charline PiconFRA Emma WilsonGBR
One Person Dinghy, Women Anne-Marie RindomDEN Josefin OlssonSWE Marit BouwmeesterNED
Two Person Dinghy, Women Great BritainGBR PolandPOL FranceFRA
Skiff, Women BrazilBRA GermanyGER NetherlandsNED
Multihull, Mixed ItalyITA Great BritainGBR GermanyGER

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Great Britain GBR 3 1 1 5
Australia AUS 2 0 0 2
Netherlands NED 1 0 2 3
People's Republic of China CHN 1 0 1 2
Brazil BRA 1 0 0 1
Denmark DEN 1 0 0 1
Italy ITA 1 0 0 1
France FRA 0 2 1 3
Sweden SWE 0 2 0 2
Germany GER 0 1 2 3
Croatia CRO 0 1 0 1
Hungary HUN 0 1 0 1
New Zealand NZL 0 1 0 1
Poland POL 0 1 0 1
Spain ESP 0 0 2 2
Norway NOR 0 0 1 1