62 nations to compete

Final entry lists for Olympic Games released

Sailors from 62 nations will take to the world's greatest sporting stage this August as they battle on the Yellow Sea at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Sailing Competition.

Confirmation of national places has been received by the International Sailing Federation, along with provisional entry lists detailing the athletes who will compete across the eleven events of the Olympic Sailing Competition. Entries range from multiple medallists looking to expand their entry in Olympic sailing history to new faces aiming to demonstrate their talent on the world's greatest sporting stage. Amongst the 62 nations, Luxembourg and the United Arab Emirates enter athletes to the sailing events of the Olympic Games for the first time.

In total 400 athletes will compete at the Olympic sailing venue in Qingdao, including four of the gold medal winning teams from Athens, who return to defend their titles. The British Women's Keelboat team also features two of the three crew who won the gold medal in 2004, whilst a further three gold medallists from Athens will compete in different events to those in which they triumphed four years ago. All the competing athletes will face a new challenge in Qingdao with the introduction of the new Medal Race format for all 11 events. Following an initial opening series held over five days of racing, the top ten crews will progress to a final Medal Race where points scores are doubled and the 2008 Olympic Champions will be decided.

The confirmation of a place at the Olympic Games is the culmination of four years dedication to pursuing a sporting dream. Over 2,500 sailors competed at ten qualification regattas across Europe, Oceania and North America to secure their nation a place at the Games, before battling against their national rivals for selection to the team of their National Olympic Committee. Amongst the sailors who have realised the first part of their Olympic dream are 14 athletes who have received support through the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship Programme.

Great Britain has topped the sailing medal tally at the past two Games and leading their charge again this year will be triple Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie. Ainslie won his first Olympic gold medal in the Laser dinghy in 2000, before switching to the larger Finn to win gold again in Athens four years ago. He will start as a hot favourite to defend that title in the Heavyweight Dinghy event in Qingdao. The experienced Austrian team of Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher are also aiming for a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the Multihull event, sailed in the Tornado. Spain's Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez are another of the champions from Athens and will compete again in the high performance 49er dinghy to defend their title in the Skiff event. Completing the quartet of defending champions is Faustine Merret of France, although this year the Women's Windsurfer event will be contested on the newly designed RS:X board.

Sarah Ayton and Sarah Webb of Great Britain also both won gold in 2004 in the Women's Keelboat event along with helm Shirley Robertson. However, the team parted ways after Athens and Ayton took over at the back of the boat to be joined again by Webb and new team mate Pippa Wilson. Competing in the tactically challenging Yngling keelboat, this crew will be competing against two other gold medal winners from Athens: at the helm of the Norwegian Yngling, Siren Sundby, who won gold in the single-handed Europe dinghy in Athens; and Sofia Bekatorou helming the Greek Yngling, a gold medallist in the two-person 470 four years ago. The final gold medallist from Athens competing in Qingdao is the great Brazilian sailor Robert Scheidt. After winning two gold and one silver medal along with eight World Championship titles in the one person Laser dinghy, Scheidt has teamed up with Bruno Prada and switched to the Men's Keelboat event in the Star boat.

Other famous Olympians on their way to Qingdao are Barbara Kendall of New Zealand, a triple Olympic medallist in the Women's Windsurfing event and a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission. Competing against her will be her great rival and another three-time Olympic medallist, Alessandra Sensini of Italy.

At the forefront of the challenge from the host nation will be Athens silver medallists Jian Yin in the Women's Windsurfer event. The young but highly talent Lijia Xu also starts amongst the favourites in the Women's One Person Dinghy event sailed in the Laser Radial.

Please note the entry list below is provisional. The final deadline for National Olympic Committees to summit entry forms is 23 July.

Entries By Event

Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial (28 entries confirmed, 28 athletes)
Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser (42 entries confirmed, 42 athletes)
Men's Two Person Dinghy - 470 (29 entries confirmed, 58 athletes)
Women's Two Person Dinghy - 470 (19 entries confirmed, 38 athletes)
Men's Keeboat - Star (16 entries confirmed, 32 athletes)
Women's Keelboat - Yngling (15 entries confirmed, 45 athletes)
Multihull - Tornado (15 entries confirmed, 30 athletes)
Skiff - 49er (19 entries confirmed, 38 athletes)
Heavyweight Dinghy - Finn (25 entries confirmed, 25 athletes)
Men's Windsurfer - RS:X (35 entries confirmed, 35 athletes)
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X (27 entries confirmed, 27 athletes)

Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial
(28 entries confirmed, 28 athletes)

Argentina - Cecilia Carranza
Australia - Sarah Blanck
Belarus - Tatiana Drozdovskaya
Belgium - Evi Van Acker
Canada - Lisa Ross
Croatia - Mateja Petronijevic
Finland - Tuula Tenkanen
France - Sarah Steyaert
Germany - Petra Niemann
Great Britain - Penny Clark
Greece - Eftychia Mantzaraki
Ireland - Ciara Peelo
Israel - Nufar Edelman
Italy - Larissa Nevierov
Lithuania - Gintare Volungeviciute
Mexico - Tania Elias Calles
New Zealand - Jo Aleh
Norway - Cathrine Gjerpen
Paraguay - Florencia Cerutti
Peru - Paloma Schmidt
Poland - Katarzyna Szotynska
PR China - Xu Lijia
Russia - Anastasia Chernova
Singapore - Man Yi Lo
Spain - Susana Romero
Sweden - Karin Soderstrom
Switzerland - Nathalie Brugger
USA - Anna Tunnicliffe
Netherlands - entry unconfirmed

Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser
(42 entries confirmed, 42 athletes)

Argentina - Julio Alsogaray
Australia - Tom Slingsby
Austria - Andreas Geritzer
Barbados - Gregory Douglas
Brazil - Bruno Fontes
Canada - Mike Leigh
Chile - Matias del Solar Goldsmith
Croatia - Luka Radelic
Cyprus - Pavlos Kontides
Czech Republic - Martin Trcka
Denmark - Anders Nyholm
Dominican Republic - Raul Aguayo
Estonia - Deniss Karpak
Finland - Pierre Angelo Collura
France - Jean Baptiste Bernaz
Great Britain - Paul Goodison
Greece - Evangelos Chimonas
Guatemala - Juan I Maegli
Hungary - Zsombor Berecz
Italy - Diego Romero
Japan - Yoichi Lijima
Korea - Jeemin Ha
Luxembourg - Marc Schmit
Malaysia - Kevin Lim Leong Keat
New Zealand - Andrew Murdoch
Norway - Kristian Ruth
Poland - Maciej Grabowski
Portugal - Gustavo Lima
PR China - Shen Sheng
Russia - Igor Lisovenko
Seychelles - Allan Julie
Singapore - Seng Leong Koh
Slovenia - Vasilij Zbogar
Spain - Javier Hernandes
Sweden - Rasmus Myrgren
Switzerland - Christoph Bottoni
Turkey - Kemal Muslubas
United Arab Emirates - Mohammed Adil Khalid
Uruguay - Alejandro Foglia
USA - Andrew Campbell
US Virgin Islands - Thomas Barrows lll
Venezuela - Jose Miguel Ruiz
Netherlands - entry unconfirmed

Men's Two Person Dinghy - 470
(29 entries confirmed, 58 athletes)

Argentina - Javier Conte and Juan de la Fuente
Australia - Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page
Austria - Matthias Schmid and Florian Reichstadter
Belarus - Sergei Desukevich and Pavel Logunov
Brazil - Fabio Pillar and Samuel Albrecht
Canada - Stephen Locas and Oliver Bone
Croatia - Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic
Finland - Niklas Lindgren and Heikki Elomaa
France - Nicolas Charbonnier and Olivier Bausset
Great Britain - Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield
Greece - Andreas Kosmatopoulos and Andreas Papadopoulos
Ireland - Gerald Owens and Philip Lawton
Israel - Gideon Kliger and Ehud Gal
Italy - Gabrio Zandona and Andres Trani
Japan - Tetsuya Matsunaga and Taro Ueno
Korea - Cheul Yoon and Hyeongtae Kim
Netherlands - Sven Coster and Kalle Coster
New Zealand - Carl Evans and Peter Burling
Poland - Patryk Piasecki and Kacper Zieminski
Portugal - Álvaro Marinho and Miguel Nunes
PR China - Wang Weidong and Deng Daokun
Russia - Michael Sheremetiev and Maxim Sheremetiev
Singapore - Yuan Zhen Xu and Seng Kiat Terence Koh
Slovenia - Karlo Hmeljak and Mitja Nevecny
Spain - Onan Barreiros and Aaron Sarmiento
Sweden - Anton Dahlberg and Sebastian Ostling
Switzerland - Tobias Etter and Felix Steiger
Turkey - Deniz Cinar and Ates Cinar
USA - Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl

Women's Two Person Dinghy - 470
(19 entries confirmed, 38 athletes)

Argentina - Fernanda Sesto and Consuelo Monsgur
Australia - Elise Rechichi and Tess Parkinson
Austria - Sylvia Vogl and Carolina Flatscher
Brazil - Oliveira Fernanda and Isabel Swan
Czech Republic - Lenka Smidova and Lenka Mrzilkova
France - Ingrid Petitjean and Gwendolyn Lemaitre
Germany - Stefanie Rothweiler and Vivien Kussatz
Great Britain - Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark
Israel - Nike Kornecki and Vered Bouskila
Italy - Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol
Japan - Ai Kondo and Naoko Kamata
Netherlands - Marcelien De Koning and Lobke Berkhout
PR China - Wen Yimei and Yu Chunyan
Singapore - Liying Toh and Hui Min Deborah Ong
Slovenia - Vesna Dekleva Paoli and Klara Maucec
Spain - Natalia Via-Dufresne and Laia Tutzo
Sweden - Therese Torgersson and Vendela Santen
Switzerland - Emmanuelle Rol and Anne-Sophie Thilo
USA - Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler

Men's Keeboat - Star
(16 entries confirmed, 32 athletes)

Australia - Iain Murray and Andrew Palfrey
Austria - Hans Spitzauer and Hans-Christian Nehammer
Brazil - Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada
Croatia - Marin Jr Lovorovic and Sinisa Mikulicic
France - Xavier Rohart and Pascal Rambeau
Germany - Marc-Aurel Pickel and Ingo Borkowski
Great Britain - Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson
Ireland - Peter O'Leary and Stephen Milne
Italy - Diego Negri and Luigi Viale
New Zealand - Hamish Pepper and Carl Williams
Poland - Mateusz Kusznierewicz and Dominik Życki
Portugal - Afonso Domingos and Bernardo Santos
PR China - Li Hongquan and Wang He
Sweden - Frederik Loof and Anders Ekstrom
Switzerland - Flavio Marazzi and Enrico DeMaria
USA - John Dane III and Austin Sperry

Women's Keelboat - Yngling
(15 entries confirmed, 45 athletes)

Australia - Krystal Weir, Karyn Gojnich and Angela Farrell
Canada - Jennifer Provan, Martha Henderson and Katie Abbott
Finland - Silja Lehtinen, Maria Klemetz and Livia Varesmaa
France - Anne Le Helley, Catharine Lepesant and Julie Gerecht
Germany - Urike Schumann, Ute Hopfer and Julia Bleck
Great Britain - Sarah Ayton, Sarah Webb and Pippa Wilson
Greece - Sofia Bekatorou, Sofia Papadopoulou and Virginia Kravarioti
Italy - Calligaris Chiara, Francesca Scognamillo and Giulia Pignolo
Netherlands - Mandy Mulder, Annemieke Bes and Merel Witteveen
Norway - Siren Sundby, Alexandra Koefoed and Lise Birgitte Fredriksen
PR China - Song Xiaqun, Yu Yanli and Li Xiaoni
Russia - Ekaterina Skudina, Diana Krutskikh and Natalia Ivanova
South Africa - Dominique Provoyeur, Penny Alison and Kim Rew
Spain - Monica Azon, Sandra Azon and Graciela Pisonero
USA - Sally Barkow, Carrie Howe and Debbie Capozzi

Multihull - Tornado
(15 entries confirmed, 30 athletes)

Argentina - Santiago Lange and Carlos Espinola
Australia - Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby
Austria - Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher
Belgium - Carolijn Brouwer and Sebastien Godefroid
Canada - Oskar Johannson and Kevin Stittle
France - Xavier Revil and Christophe Espagnon
Germany - Johannes Polgar and Florian Spalteholz
Great Britain - Leigh McMillan and Will Howden
Greece - Iordanis Paschalides and Konstantinos Trigonis
Italy - Francesco Marcolini and Edoardo Bianchi
Netherlands - Mitch Booth and Pim Nieuwenhuis
PR China - Chen Xiuke and Luo Youjia
Spain - Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz
Ukraine - Pavlo Kalynchev and Andriy Shafranyuk
USA - John Lovell and Charles Ogletree

Skiff - 49er
(19 entries confirmed, 38 athletes)

Australia - Nathan Outteridge and Ben Austin
Austria - Nico Delle Karth and Nikolaus Resch
Brazil - Andre Fonseca and Rodrigo Duarte
Canada - Gordon Cook and Ben Remocker
Croatia - Pavle Kostov and Peter Cupac
Denmark - Jonas Warrer and Martin Kirketerp Ibsen
France - Emmanuel Dyen and Yann Rocherieux
Germany - Jan-Peter Peckolt and Hannes Peckolt
Great Britain - Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes
Italy - Piero Sibello and Gianfranco Sibello
Japan - Akira Ishibashi and Yukio Makino
Norway - Christopher Gundersen and Frode Bovim
Poland - Marcin Czajkowski and Krzysztof Kierkowski
Portugal - Jorge Lima and Francisco Andrade
PR China - Li Fei and Hu Xianqiange
Spain - Iker Martinez and Xabier Fernandez
Sweden - Jonas Lindberg and Kalle Torlen
Ukraine - Rodion Luka and Georgiy Leonchuk
USA - Timothy Wadlow and Christopher Rast

Heavyweight Dinghy - Finn
(25 entries confirmed, 25 athletes)

Australia - Anthony Nossiter
Brazil - Eduardo Couto
Canada - Chris Cook
Croatia - Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic
Cyprus - Haris Papadopoulos
Czech Republic - Michael Maier
Denmark - Jonas Hogh Christensen
Finland - Tapio Nirkko
France - Guillaume Florent
Great Britain - Ben Ainslie
Greece - Emilios Papathanasiou
India - Nachhatar Singh Johal
Ireland - Timothy Goodbody
Italy - Giorgio Poggi
Netherlands - Pieter Jan Postma
New Zealand - Dan Slater
Norway - Peer Moberg
Poland - Rafal Szukiel
PR China - Zhang Peng
Russia - Eduard Skorniakov
Slovenia - Gasper Vincenc
Spain - Rafael Trujillo
Sweden - Daniel Birgmark
Turkey - Ali Kemal Tufekci
USA - Zachary Railey

Men's Windsurfer - RS:X
(35 entries confirmed, 35 athletes)

Argentina - Mariano Reutemann
Belarus - Mikalai Zhukavets
Brazil - Ricardo Santos
Chinese Taipei - Chang Hao
Canada - Zac Plavsic
Colombia - Santiago Grillo
Croatia - Luka Mratovic
Cyprus - Andreas Cariolou
Denmark - Jonas Kaelsdo Poulsen
Estonia - Johannes Ahun
France - Julien Bontemps
Great Britain - Nick Dempsey
Greece - Nikolas Kaklamanakis
Hong Kong - King Yiin Chan
Hungary - Aron Gadorfalvi
Indonesia - Oka Sulaksana
Israel - Shahar Zubari
Italy - Fabian Heidegger
Japan - Makoto Tomizawa
Korea - Taehoon Lee
Mexico - David Mier Y Teran
Netherlands - Casper Bouman
New Zealand - Tom Ashley
Poland - Przemyslaw Miarczynski
Portugal - João Rodrigues
PR China - Wang Aichen
Russia - Alexey Tokorev
Slovak Republic - Patrik Pollak
Spain - Ivan Pastor
Switzerland - Richard Stauffacher
Thailand - Ek Boonsawad
Turkey - Ertugrul Icingir
Ukraine - Maksym Oberemko
USA - Benjamin Barger
Venezuela - Carlos Flores

Women's Windsurfer - RS:X
(27 entries confirmed, 27 athletes)

Argentina - Florencia Gutierrez
Australia - Jessica Crisp
Brazil - Patricia Freitas
Bulgaria - Irina Konstantinova-Bontemps
Canada - Nikola Girke
Cyprus - Gavriela Hadjidamianou
Denmark - Bettina Honore
Finland - Tuuli Petaja
France - Faustine Merret
Great Britain - Bryony Shaw
Greece - Frai Athina
Hong Kong - Wai Kei Chan
Hungary - Diane Detre
Israel - Maayan Davidovich
Italy - Alessandra Sensini
Japan - Yasuko Kosuge
Mexico - Demita Vega Delille
New Zealand - Barbara Kendall
Norway - Jannicke Stålstrøm
Poland - Zofia Klepacka
PR China - Yin Jian
Russia - Tatiana Bazuk
Spain - Marina Alabau
Thailand - Napalai Tansai
Turkey - Sedef Koktenturk
Ukraine - Olga Maslivets
USA - Nancy Rios