Russian sailors offered limited option to qualify for Paris Olympics

By GRAHAM DUNBAR
AP Sports Writer

GENEVA (AP) — Russian and Belarusian sailors are set to get their only path to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics at a last-chance event in France next year. It’s an option described as “madness” by Russia’s top sailing official. The World Sailing governing body says races next April at a French Riviera resort are the “targeted opportunity” for Russia and Belarus to return to international sailing as neutral athletes during the war in Ukraine. That would exclude them from eight European and global qualification events through March. Russian sailing federation president Sergey Dzhienbaev says it’s “madness to turn up without competitive practice and qualify for the Olympic Games.”