JERUSALEM, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) — The opening ceremony of the 470 sailing World Championship was held in the Israeli village of Sdot Yam on Sunday evening, with the presence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
The 2022 championship includes for the first time mixed pairs only, without separate competitions for men and women as has been held so far.
This is against the background of the transition from separate teams to mixed teams in Olympic competition, starting at the 2024 Paris Games.
The championship in Israel includes 60 mixed pairs from 20 countries and regions. The races will start on Monday and end on Saturday with the medal race.
The top sailor in the competition is Britain’s Olympic champion Eilidh McIntyre, who won the women’s gold in Tokyo together with Hannah Mills. After the move to mixed teams, she now competes with Martin Wrigley.
Another senior competitor is Sweden’s Anton Dahlberg, who won the men’s silver medal in Tokyo and gold in the 2021 World Championships in Portugal, both with Fredrik Bergstrom.
In the current mixed championship, Dahlberg will collaborate with Lovisa Karlsson. The new Swedish mixed pair already won the European Championship title in Turkey last month.
Spanish reigning world champion Silvia Mas, who won the gold last year together with Patricia Cantero, will compete in the current mixed championship with Nicolas Rodriguez.
China has three pairs in the tournmanet: Xu Ming and Lyu Yixiao, Dong Wenju and Xu Yani, and Xu Jianyong and Tu Yahan.