Vishnu Saravanan qualifies for Paris Olympics 2024, secures India's first sailing quota

Published at :January 31, 2024 at 4:43 PM

Modified at :January 31, 2024 at 4:43 PM

(Courtesy : X)

Vishnu ended at fifth position after 10 races in quota rankings

Indian sailor Vishnu Saravanan has secured a berth for the 2024 Paris Olympics by finishing 26th at the 2024 ILCA 7 World Championship in Adelaide, Australia. He is the first Indian to qualify for the sailing event at the Paris Games.

Saravanan, who won a bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in the same event, was fifth in the Olympic quota rankings after ten races. He was assured of a spot at the Olympics as the top ten sailors, who made it to the medal race, had already booked their tickets to Paris.

The 24-year-old, who hails from Vellore, Tamil Nadu, and trains at the Army Yachting Node in Mumbai, had a consistent performance at the World Championship finishing second in the fourth race and had five top-10 finishes in ten races at Adelaide. He had a total score of 174 points, which was reduced to 125 points after discarding his worst score of 49 points in a race.

Saravanan represented India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he finished 23rd and 22nd in the fifth and sixth races in the men’s laser event. He was one of the four Indian sailors who competed at the Tokyo Games, which was a record number for the country.

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Saravanan’s achievement is a boost for Indian sailing, which has been growing steadily in recent years. He will be aiming to improve his performance and challenge the best sailors in the world at the Paris Olympics, which are scheduled to be held from July 26 to August 11, 2024

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