Paralympic ones to watch for sailing announced.

On Friday (8 January), athletes and teams in sailing were the latest to be announced by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as One to Watch for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, which run from 7-18 September, will see up to 4,350 athletes from around 170 countries compete in 528 medal events across 22 different sports.

In an effort to make it easier for the public and media to understand which athletes to look out for at Rio 2016, the IPC between 4-15 January is announcing Ones to Watch in all 22 sports, revealing athletes in two sports each day.

The Ones to Watch athletes for sailing are as follows:

Damien Seguin (FRA)

Seguin won Paralympic gold at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 but did not medal at London 2012.  He returned to form in 2015 however, taking his fourth world title in the 2.4mR single-person keelboat.

Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS)

The pair took a break after winning gold at London 2012 but were back in SKUD18 action at the 2014 World Championships where they took their first world title together.  In 2015 they won numerous World Cup events and finished the year by retaining their world title.

Heiko Kroeger (GER)

Germany’s Sydney 2000 Paralympic champion Heiko Kroeger sails in the 2.4mR class and has won seven world titles.  He finished fourth at both Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, before taking silver at London 2012.  He won silver at the 2015 World Championships behind French rival Damien Seguin.

Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris and Russell Boaden (AUS)

The trio finished with bronze at the 2014 World Championships and silver at the 2015 equivalent in the sonar competition, missing out on gold by just one point. Rio 2016 will be the trio’s first Paralympic Games together. Harrison and Boaden won bronze medals at Beijing 2008.

John Robertson, Hannah Stodel and Stephen Thomas (Great Britain)

Rio 2016 will be the trio’s fourth Paralympic Games together. Having won the 2015 world title in the sonar class, edging home favourites Australia, they will be optimistic about landing their first Paralympic medal as a group.  The crew finished fifth at London 2012.