IOC President Kirsty Coventry takes windsurfing lesson from Olympic champions in Saly

Coventry was joined at Saly Beach West by World Sailing President Quanhai Li. Her instructors were Italy’s Alessandra Sensini, France’s Charline Picon and New Zealand’s Barbara Kendall, all Olympic windsurfing gold medallists.

“Today we had the visit of the IOC President, and she had her first windsurfing lesson,” said Picon. “Three teachers for her… I think she enjoyed it.”

The group then went out onto the field of play to watch the racing, before finishing with a swim race back to the beach, familiar territory for Coventry as a former Olympic swimming champion.

On the water, a breezier start to the day shook up the women’s leaderboard. Italy’s Laura Grasso Castagnetta won the final race to take the lead on 10 points, two clear of Spain’s Olivia Sanchez. China’s Wu Ziyan, unbeaten on day one, did not start the last race and drops to third.

Greece’s Kyriaki Zerva won races four and five to climb from 12th to sixth. “It was so much better than yesterday,” she said of the stronger breeze, before it faded for the final race. Her target is clear: “I want to be in the first three.”

In the men’s fleet, Greece’s Evangelos Kyriazakos added two more race wins to lead by four points from Hong Kong’s Ng Hoi Tik. The Philippines’ Jade Justin Justiniane and Hungary’s Flórián Kátai are tied on 23 points for third. “We had everything today,” said Kátai. “I would like to be on the podium, but we will see how it goes.”

For Peru’s Paula Ledgard, the Games are about learning from the best. “I just think that I want to improve every day,” she said, “and after this championship be better.”

Racing continues on Tuesday 10 November, with three more races scheduled for each fleet.

Full results at dakar2026.sailing.org/results