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Top performing Nation to receive IOC President`s Cup
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| ISAF World Sailing Championship - Top performing Nation to receive IOC President`s Cup |
ISAF HQ, UNITED KINGDOM-(13-7-2003) The IOC President’s Cup will be presented to the top performing nation at the ISAF World Championships in Cadiz, Spain.
As in 2003, the 1999 Worlds were also Olympic qualification regattas for
the 2000 Olympic Regatta – with the Laser, Europe, Finn, Soling, 49er,
470 men and 470 women contesting slots.
Australia won the prestigious IOC President's Cup as the top scoring
nation in the seven Olympic Class World Championships. The President of
the IOC, His Excellency Juan Antonio Samaranch, donated the Cup as a
perpetual trophy for the 1999 Worlds and for future Combined World
Championships in the year before the Olympic Games.
1. Australia - 37 points
2. Sweden - 33 points
3. Great Britain - 31 points
4. Germany – 27 points
5. Holland – 21 points
6. Denmark – 19 points
7. Ukraine – 18 points
8. Poland – 17 points
9. France - 16 points
10. Italy - 15 points
In an outstanding performance, with only 18 months to go to the Sydney
2000 Olympic Games, Australian sailors won a gold and a silver medal in
the High Performance Dinghy Open - 49er and a silver medal in the Women’s
Single-handed dinghy – Europe. Overall Australia finished in the top 10
in six of the seven Olympic classes at the 1999 Worlds. Will Australia
repeat this performance in Cadiz?
The host nation team, Spain, with a home-water advantage, must be amongst
the favourites to take the overall nation title, but with sailors
currently in the world’s top three in only two Olympic events -
Double-handed Dinghy Women - 470 and Single-handed Dinghy Men – Finn -
they will need a bit more “Viva Espana” to lay a claim on the
President’s Cup.
Interestingly, looking at the statistics purely based on sailors currently
in the top three of the ISAF World Sailing Rankings, the best performing
nation is Great Britain, with sailors in the top three of five of the
Olympic events, followed by France and Australia on 3 apiece.
Whatever the outcome in Cadiz, with 23 countries currently having sailors
in the world’s top 3 across the Olympic events, it will be a closely
fought battle on very interesting and testing sailing waters. |
Source: ISAF |
