Vishnu Saravanan, 24, has earned the country’s first quota for Paris Olympics 2024 in sailing by finishing at 26th place at 2024 ILCA-7 World Championship in Adelaide, Australia. This is Vishnu’s second consecutive qualification for the mega event, having previously appeared in Tokyo games.
The ILCA 7 race refers to a specific category within the ILCA (International Laser Class Association) sailing class. The ILCA 7 is a type of sailboat, specifically a single-handed dinghy designed for racing.
The 24-year-old secured qualification for the upcoming Paris Games by finishing 26th out of 152 participants in the ILCA-7 World Championship.#Sailing #ParisOlympics2024 #OlympicQualification #VishnuSarvanan pic.twitter.com/ClTz3TGcB7
— SportsIndiaShow (@SportsIndiaShow) February 1, 2024
The journey of Vishnu Saravanan
World Championship in Adelaide was Vishnu Saravanan’s last resource to reserve a Olympic ticket. He couldn’t succeed in previous three occasions. The first opportunity came at the 2023 Sailing World Championships in The Hague, Netherlands. Vishnu finished at 37th position among 138 players but only 16 quotas were available for Olympics.
Though Vishnu won the bronze medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year, it wasn’t enough as the qualification required to win gold. The next shot was at Asian Championships in Pattaya in December last year. Vishnu finished top 10 in 7 out of 9 races, but couldn’t get a podium finish as he had a poor run in the remaining races.
Vishnu eventually reached the target in his final opportunity at Adelaide. The subedar from the Mumbai-based Army Yachting Node earned a net score of 125(after the deduction of his least score of 49 from the overall score of 174) and finished 26th among 152 participants from 53 nations. The 24-year-old was placed fifth in the Olympic quota rankings after ten races. A total of seven quota places are up for grabs at the Adelaide Sailing Club.
Vishnu also secured the top rank among Asian countries, surpassing gold medalists from Singapore in the Asian Games and medal winners from Hong Kong and Thailand in the Continental qualifiers.
Overall Vishnu Saravanan is going to be the second Indian sailor to compete in multiple Olympics. Previously, Farokh Tarapore competed in three consecutive Olympic games in 1984, 1988 and 1992. Vishnu finished at 20th position among 35 sailors in Tokyo Olympics.
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