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.
World Sailing (WS) is the world governing body for the sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
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 FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad".
The International University Sports Federation is responsible for the organization and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25. It was founded in 1949 as the world governing body of national university sports organizations and currently has 165 member associations from five continents. Between 1949 and 2011, it was based in Brussels (Belgium); it was relocated to Lausanne (Switzerland) since 2011.
A sailing hydrofoil, hydrofoil sailboat, or hydrosail is a sailboat with wing-like foils mounted under the hull. As the craft increases its speed the hydrofoils lift the hull up and out of the water, greatly reducing wetted area, resulting in decreased drag and increased speed. A sailing hydrofoil can achieve speeds exceeding double and in some cases triple the wind speed.
The 2011 Summer Universiade (2011年夏季世界大学生运动会), also known as the XXVI Summer Universiade (第二十六届夏季世界大学生运动会) and Shenzhen 2011, was hosted in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
Anthony Bruce Kendall is a two-time Olympic medallist in sailing for New Zealand.
Michael William "Gebi" Gebhardt is a former professional and Olympic windsurfer from the United States, who competed in five consecutive Summer Olympics, in the Olympic sailing discipline/event of windsurfing. He was born in Columbus, Ohio.
The Mistral One Design Class (MOD) is a one-design windsurfing class chosen by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) for use at the Olympic regatta in Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. Starting with the 2008 Summer Olympics it was replaced by the RS:X class, which was replaced by the iQFoil class for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The sport of sailing involves a variety of competitive sailing formats that are sanctioned through various sailing federations and yacht clubs. Racing disciplines include matches within a fleet of sailing craft, between a pair thereof or among teams. Additionally, there are specialized competitions that include setting speed records. Racing formats include both closed courses and point-to-point contests; they may be in sheltered waters, coast-wise or on the open ocean. Most competitions are held within defined classes or ratings that either entail one type of sailing craft to ensure a contest primarily of skill or rating the sailing craft to create classifications or handicaps.
The 2017 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXIX Summer Universiade and commonly called Taipei 2017, was a multi-sport event, sanctioned by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), held in the city of Taipei, Taiwan. It took place from August 19 to August 30, 2017.
The 2019 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXX Summer Universiade and also known as Naples 2019, or Napoli 2019, was held in Naples, Italy, between 3 and 14 July 2019.
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.
The 2021 Summer World University Games (2021年夏季世界大学生运动会), officially known as the XXXI Summer World University Games and also known as Chengdu 2021, was a multi-sport event sanctioned by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), held from 28 July to 8 August 2023 in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. It was the fourth time the Games was hosted in China. This is the first time the Games was referred to as the "Summer World University Games" rather than the "Summer Universiade."
Windfoiling is a surface water sport that is the hydrofoiling evolution of windsurfing, as well as typical sailing boats and sailing hydrofoils. It uses similar equipment to windsurfing with a normal or slightly evolved rig on a normal or specialist foil board.
The Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games, commonly known as Lake Placid 2023, was a collegiate multi-sport winter sports held between January 12 to January 22, 2023 and had Lake Placid, New York, United States, as main host city. Alongside Lake Placid, events were also hosted by neighbouring cities of Wilmington, Saranac Lake, Potsdam and North Creek also located at the New York state. The event is also known as the 31st Winter Universiade as administered by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).
Matthew James Barton is a British windsurfer. He competes in windsurfing in the IQFoil class and won silver in the 2021 IQFoil World Championships.
Katya Ida Coelho is an Indian professional windsurfer who is currently India's only Women iQFoiler and the first Indian to win an IQFoil Medal at the International Windsurfing Cup in July 2022 in Pattaya, Thailand.
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.
