Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gained a popular following across Europe and North America by the late 1970s and had achieved significant global popularity by the 1980s. Windsurfing became an Olympic sport in 1984.
Gal Fridman is an Israeli windsurfer and Israel's first Olympic gold medalist. Fridman won a Bronze Medal in the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, and a gold medal in the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. He is the first of two Israelis athletes to win two Olympic Medals, and the first Olympic Gold medalist in Israeli history. His first name, Gal, means "wave" in Hebrew.
The Women's Elliott 6m was a sailing event on the Sailing at the 2012 Summer Olympics program in Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy. The competition followed a match race format. It consisted of a round-robin a quarter finals, semi-finals, petit-final and final series. The top eight crews from the round-robin were seeded into the quarter finals.
Paweł Aleksander Maria Tarnowski is a Polish sailor, son of Jacek Tarnowski, and Monika Wanicka. Tarnowski already competed at the top-level when he was a teenager, becoming a multiple medal winner in Junior World Championships. In 2011 and 2012, he won a gold medal at the RS:X Junior World Championships, and he won medals in European Champion. In first he started in classes Techno 293 class and then the RS:X class, (including in a category age under 17 and under 21 years of age. He competed in the 2024 Olympics in the iQfoil class and came 10th.
Greece competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Greek athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside Australia, France, Great Britain, and Switzerland. As the progenitor nation of the Olympic Games and in keeping with tradition, Greece entered first at the New National Stadium during the parade of nations at the opening ceremony. Like the other closing ceremonies before, the Greek flag was also raised during the closing ceremony alongside the Japanese and French flags.
Emma Wilson is a British windsurfer who won a bronze medal in the RS:X event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She won the RS:X events at the Youth Sailing World Championships in 2016 and 2017, and won medals at the 2018 and 2019 RS:X European Championships, and the 2022 and 2023 IQFoil European Championships. She won her second Olympic bronze medal in the iQFoil at the 2024 Paris Games.
María Belén Bazo Germán is a Peruvian windsurfer who previously competed in the RS:X class and now competes in the iQFoil class.
Kiran Badloe is a Dutch windsurfer. He won the gold medal in the men's event at the 2019 RS:X World Championships and 2020 RS:X World Championships.
iQFoil is a windsurfing class selected by World Sailing to replace the RS:X for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The discipline has similarities to Formula Windsurfing, however a notable difference is that sailors only use one sail. The sail size is 9m² for the men and 8m² for the women. The rider has a choice between using a hydrofoil or a conventional 68 cm fin.
Australia competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics at Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. Australian athletes have appeared in every Summer Olympic Games of the modern era, alongside France, Great Britain, Greece, and Switzerland. As Brisbane will stage the 2032 Summer Olympics, Australia and the United States, the next nation to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, marched before the homebound French team entering the Place du Trocadéro during the parade of nations segment of the opening ceremony.
Israel competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. This was the nation's 18th appearance at the Summer Olympics. Since Israel's debut in 1952, Israeli athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, other than the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which it opted not to attend in accordance with the US-led boycott. It was Israel's most successful Olympic Games by number of medals.
New Zealand competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. It was the country's twenty-fifth appearance as an independent nation at the Summer Olympics, having made its debut at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp and competed at every Games since. It is New Zealand's most successful Olympic Games, matching their previously highest medal total of 20 from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and breaking their previous Gold medal total of 8 from the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
The men's iQFoil competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics was the men's windsurfer event and was held in Marseille, France, from 29 July to 2 August 2024. It is the first men's windsurfing competition to use the iQFoil craft, which replaces the RS:X vessels that had been used in the previous four Olympics.
The Men's Formula Kite is a sailing event part of the Sailing at the 2024 Summer Olympics program in Marseille and takes place between 4–9 August 2024. It is the first appearance of men's kiteboarding in the Olympic games. 20 sailors represent 20 countries entered in to the event.
The Women's Formula Kite is a sailing event part of the Sailing at the 2024 Summer Olympics program in Marseille and takes place between 4–8 August 2024. It is the first appearance of women's kiteboarding in the Olympic games. 20 sailors representing 20 countries entered in to the event.
The women's Laser Radial is a sailing event is the women's one-person dinghy event, being held in Marseille, France, from 1 to 6 August 2024. 43 sailors from 43 nations will compete in 11 races, including one medal-race with the top 10 ranked contestant for double points were. Due to low winds, race 10 was cancelled.
The Mixed 470 was a sailing event part of the Sailing at the 2024 Summer Olympics program in Marseille and took place between 2–7 August 2024. The event was the first for the Mixed 470 class for double-handed dinghies in the Olympics, replacing the separate men's and women's classes that had previously existed. All crews for the Mixed event must contain one male and one female sailor. A total of 19 crews representing 19 nations entered in to the event scheduled for 10 preliminary races and one medal race.
Hélène Noesmoen is a French windsurfer who competes in the IQFoil class. She won the women's events at the 2021 IQFoil World Championships and the 2020, 2021 and 2022 IQFoil European Championships. Noesmoen also won the RS:X event at the 2018 Sailing World Cup in Miami, and multiple junior world championships.
The women's IQFoil competition of the sailing events at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago was held from October 28 to November 3 at the Cofradia Nautica del Pacifico.
Tom Reuveny is an Israeli Olympic champion windsurfer, who specializes in the RS:X and iQFoil classes. He won gold medals at the 2017 RS:X Youth World Championships, the 2019 RS:X World Championships Men's U21, and the 2020 RS:X World Championships Men's U21. Representing Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Reuveny won the gold medal in the Men's iQFoil.
