Rowing-Sailing

Number of medal events
Two: men’s and women’s competition.

Number of competitors
72: 36 men and 36 women

Each country is limited to four athletes (two men and two women).

Field of play

Athletes fence in the Copper Box; compete in a 200m freestyle race in the pool in the Aquatics Centre; ride a 350–400m show jumping course in Greenwich Park; and finish with a 3km run, which includes shooting points, also in Greenwich Park.

History of Modern Pentathlon at the Olympic Games

Modern Pentathlon first appeared at the Stockholm 1912 Olympic Games, with the women’s competition making its debut at Sydney 2000.

Number of medal events
14 – men’s and women’s events ranging from Single Sculls, featuring solo rowers, to the Eight, featuring teams of eight rowers plus a cox.

Number of competitors
550: 353 men and 197 women Each country is limited to a total of 48 athletes (28 men and 20 women).

Field of play
The lake at Eton Dorney is 2,200m long. Races are 2,000m, with six lanes used.

History of Rowing at the Olympic Games
Rowing has been staged at every Games since making its debut on the Olympic programme at Paris in 1900. The youngest Olympic champion is thought to be an anonymous French boy who coxed for a Dutch pair at the inaugural competition. The boy, aged no more than 12, took part in the Victory Ceremony but then disappeared. Women’s Rowing events joined the Olympic programme at Montreal 1976.

Find out more about Rowing at the Olympic Games on the International Olympic Committee website.

The basics
Rowing events are head-to-head races, ranging from Single Sculls to the Eight, contested by teams of eight rowers with a cox. There are also lightweight events, where there are weight limits on the athletes in each boat.

Competition format
The format of the competition depends on how many boats are competing. All events include a repechage – a series of further races to qualify boats for semi-finals or finals, and to rank all boats in order of performance.

Events with 12 or fewer boats start with two heats. The best boats in heats 1 and 2 qualify for final A, which determines places 1–6 (including the medals). Unsuccessful boats from the heats compete in the repechage round, which offers a second chance to qualify for final A. Unsuccessful boats from the repechage go forward to final B, which determines places 7–12.

Events with 13–18 boats begin with heats, from which the best boats qualify directly for semi-finals A/B. All other boats progress to the repechage round, which offers a second chance to qualify for the semi-finals. The best three boats in semi-finals A/B qualify for final A, which determines places 1–6 (including the medals). Unsuccessful boats from semi-finals A/B go forward to final B, which determines places 7–12. Unsuccessful boats from the repechage go forward to final C, which determines places 13–18.

Events with 19–24 boats begin with heats, from which the best boats qualify directly for semi-finals A/B. All other boats progress to the repechage round, which offers a second chance to qualify for the semi-finals. The best three boats in semi-finals A/B qualify for final A, which determines places 1–6 (including the medals). Unsuccessful boats from semi-finals A/B go forward to final B, which determines places 7–12. Unsuccessful boats from the repechage go to semi-finals C/D; from here, they go either to final C (places 13–18) or final D (places 19–24).

If there are more than 24 boats in an event, the four best boats from each heat go through to the quarter-finals, with the other boats competing in a repechage to fill the remaining quarter-final places. The best three boats from each quarter-final progress to the semi-finals, with the top three from each semi-final advancing to final A. The other boats compete in finals B, C, D and E (which rank boats from seven downwards).

Events with 25 or more boats begin with heats, and the four best boats in each heat qualify directly for the quarter-finals. All other boats compete in the repechage round, which offers a second chance to qualify for the quarter-finals. The best three boats in each quarter-final qualify for semi-finals A/B, with the best three boats in each semi-final qualifying for final A. All other boats progress through a series of races to finals B, C, D, E and (if necessary) F, which determine the other placings.

Officials
Officials include the President of the Jury, timekeepers, aligner, starter and judges at the finish.

Keys to success
Rowing depends on a combination of immense strength and stamina. Technique and teamwork are vital too to ensure getting the maximum speed and distance out of every stroke. A rower or team must time their race to perfection, ensuring they have enough energy left for a fighting finish if necessary.

Breaking the rules
Athletes can be penalised for infringements such as a false start, leaving their lane or impeding another boat.

Jargon buster
Coxswain – The coxswain, or cox, typically sits at the stern and is responsible for steering the boat and directing the crew.
Lightweight – In women’s lightweight events, no rower may weigh more than 59kg, with an average weight per crew member not exceeding 57kg. For men, the single-rower maximum is 72.5kg, and the maximum crew member average shall not exceed 70kg.
Scull – To row with two oars, one in each hand.
Sweep – To row with one oar.

Sailing 

Number of medal events
10 – (six for men, four for women) will range from dinghies and keelboats to windsurfing boards.

Number of competitors
380: 237 men and 143 women.

Each country is limited to one boat in each event.

History of Sailing at the Olympics
Sailing made its Olympic debut in Paris 1900 with both men’s and women’s competitions. With the exception of St Louis 1904, the sport has appeared at every Olympic Games since.

Find out more about Sailing at the Olympic Games on the International Olympic Committee website.

The basics
Each event consists of a series of races. With the exception of the women’s Match Racing event, points in each race are awarded according to position: the winner gets one point, the second-placed finisher scores two, and so on. The final race is called the medal race, for which points are doubled. Following the medal race, the individual or crew with the fewest total points is declared the winner.

Competition format
Sailing races at these Games fall into two basic categories:

Fleet races

Events include men’s and women’s Two Person Dinghy (470), men’s and women’s Windsurfer (RS:X), men’s Keelboat (Star), men’s Skiff (49er), men’s One Person Dinghy, Heavyweight (Finn), men’s One Person Dinghy (Laser) and women’s One Person Dinghy (Laser Radial).

In fleet racing, each event has a series of races. Points are awarded in each race: first scores one point, second scores two points, etc.

After 10 races (15 races in the Skiff event), points from the worst race are discarded. The remaining points are added together.

The 10 best athletes/crews then advance to the medal race. Points are doubled, so first place gets two points, second gets four, etc. The points total after the medal race determines the placings. The athlete/crew with the lowest number of points is the winner.

Match racing

The women’s Elliot 6m event starts with a round-robin stage, where 12 crews race against each other, with the winner of each race getting one point and a half-point awarded to each crew in the event of a dead heat.

The best eight crews progress to the knockout stage, where crews race each other in a series of races. Each series is won by the first crew to reach three points.

The main difference to fleet racing is that only two boats ever race against each other, so a different set of tactics are required by the crew and helm. Pure boat speed can win you a fleet race but quick thinking and tactical judgment are required to master a match race.

Officials
Running the Olympic Sailing events is a highly complex operation. Officials will include equipment inspectors – ensuring all equipment is within the rules of the class and the competition; international judges – making decisions on rules questions and applying penalties when necessary; international race officers – ensuring all races are run fairly and within the rules of the competition; and international umpires – making on-the-water penalty decisions.

Keys to success
Sailing is both a technical and tactical sport. Athletes need to be masters of their boats, getting the most out of them in terms of speed and performance. They must also be able to adjust to changing conditions, and race tactically to ensure the best position at each stage in the race.

Breaking the rules
Although each boat class has its own rules, there are fundamental rules of Sailing and athletes can be penalised for breaking them. These include observing the correct right of way and obstruction rules while on the water, false starting, or touching a mark. Penalties include having to take an extra one or two turns (turning your boat 360 or 720 degrees through the wind), or receiving a scoring penalty.

Jargon buster
Fleet race: Three or more competitors racing against each other.

Match race: Two competitors racing head to head, with slightly different racing rules that allow aggressive tactics.

Port: When looking forwards, the left-hand side of the craft.

Starboard: When looking forwards, the right-hand side of the craft.

Tacking: When a boat passes through the eye of the wind in order to change direction. Because it is impossible to sail directly into the wind, sailing boats must zig-zag.