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 his gold medal in the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. He is the first of two Israelis athlete 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, the XXVI Summer Universiade also Shenzhen 2011, was hosted in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
Anthony Bruce Kendall is a two-time Olympic medallist in sailing for New Zealand.
The 2013 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXVII Summer Universiade, was held in the city of Kazan, Russia, the most northerly city ever to host a Summer Universiade. Over 10,400 university athletes from 162 countries participated in 13 mandatory and 14 optional sports, making the 2013 Universiade the biggest ever in the history of the event. For the first time in history a Cultural Universiade was also included, with many festivals and shows held simultaneously with the sporting events. The Universiade was organized by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and by the authorities of the Russian Federation.
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 will be 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 Napoli 2019, was held in Naples, Italy, between 3 and 14 July 2019.
The 2021 Summer World University Games, 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 primarily in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. It was the fourth edition of the Games hosted by China. This is also the first edition to be referred to as the "Summer World University Games" rather than the "Summer Universiade." The games marked the 15th anniversary of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
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.
Wing foiling or wing surfing or winging is a wind propelled water sport that developed from kitesurfing, windsurfing and surfing. The sailor, standing on a board, holds directly onto a wing. It generates both upward force and sideways propulsion and thus moves the board across the water. The recent development of foilboards, which plane very early on a hydrofoil fin and thereby lift off the water producing low friction, represent the ideal complementary hydrodynamic platform for wings.
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 event in Miami, and multiple junior world championships.
