Its unanimous kitesurfing has been dropped from inclusion in the Olympic rota! Windsurfing has been reinstated.<\/p>\n
The annual general meeting of the International Sailing Federation has approved the decision to reinstate windsurfing and to drop kitesurfing from the Olympic roster.<\/p>\n
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In a single day the hopes of kiteboarders the world over were dashed. The decision, one that was not taken lightly, was the result of to-ing and fro-ing for over a year, and has resulted in a strained relationship between the International Windsurfing Association (IWA) and the International Kiteboarding Association, the governing bodies for both sports.<\/p>\n
The storied history dates back to May 2012 when windsurfing was dropped from inclusion at the 2016 Olympics in favour of kiteboarding. At the time the decision prompted widespread bemusement and derision amongst the windsurfing community with British Windsurfer and 2012 Olympic Games silver medal winner describing the decision as ‘bizarre.’<\/p>\n
Throughout much of 2012 it was clear that the IWA and the IKA were unable to effectively communicate with one another. Olive branches were hardly extended, only heightening the frustration and poor co-operation. Both sports were pushing for radical overhauls or conservative changes to the manner in which each sport was executed on a global scale. A happy medium and collective understanding was never reached.
\nThe resulting decision means that the summer 2016 Olympics in Rio will feature RS:X windsurfing competitions for both men and women. Both windsurfing and kiteboarding governing bodies refused to answer any questions prior to the announcement of the decision, prompting feverish anxiety in both sports.<\/p>\n
Windsurfing has been included as part of the Olympic roster for the last thirty years. The first male event was staged at the 1984 games in Los Angeles with the first female event taking place in 1992. The RS:X Class was first introduced in Beijing in 2008. Kiteboarders have been working for years, growing the profile of their sport across the globe. Despite the surge in popularity it appears as though windsurfing is still the most acceptable sport for the Olympic community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Its unanimous kitesurfing has been dropped from inclusion in the Olympic rota! Windsurfing has been reinstated. The annual general meeting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news"],"yoast_head":"\n