FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Marlieke de Lange Eaton
401-683-0800
USA Wraps Up Sailing's Qualification for 2008 Olympic Games
Portsmouth, R.I. (January 21, 2008) – After ten days of competitive
racing at the Neil Pryde RS:X World Championship in Takapuna, New Zealand,
Nancy Rios (Miami, Fla.) has qualified the USA for the 2008 Olympic Games in
the Women's RS:X event. Going into the World Championship, the USA was
looking to secure one of seven country berths available for this summer's
Games. Rios was the highest finishing U.S. windsurfer in the World
Championship. The USA is now qualified in all 11 events for the 2008 Olympic
Games, and will field a full team of 18 sailors.
“Nancy has been training hard to prepare for the World Championship and we
were confident her efforts would pay off," said US SAILING’s High
Performance Director Gary Bodie. "All of our focus is now on August.”
Rios, who is 19, won the 2007 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Sailing in the
RS:X Women’s class last October, earning the right to represent the USA at
the 2008 Olympic Games in Qingdao, China.
The USA previously qualified in the other ten Olympic events at the 2007
ISAF Sailing World Championship held in Cascais, Portugal last July.
The 2008 Olympic Games are scheduled for August 8 – 24, 2008 in Beijing,
China. The Olympic Sailing Competition will be held in Qingdao, a coastal
city located 430 miles southeast of Beijing.
The United States Sailing Association (US SAILING) is the national governing
body for sailing. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode
Island, the organization provides leadership for the sport of sailing in the
U.S. US SAILING offers training and education programs for instructors and
race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and
communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides
administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country,
including National Championships and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing
Teams. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.
(End)