Our UK editor Gael Pawson has some great thoughts on Paralympic Sailing being dropped for the 2020 Games in Tokyo. As she says, "It was a decision that seemed to come out of the blue."

I'm no expert on the Paralympics, but the political process is very similar to Olympic decision-making on sports. Which means that last week's unanimous vote by the International Paralympic Committee to oust sailing should be a loud warning to Olympic sailors as well.

US Sailing Paralympic Team members at Sailing World Cup Miami

Paralympic sailing includes the SKUD-18, a coed skiff event. Photo: Walter Cooper/USSailing



Ten years ago, the United States Olympic Committee considered Sailing one of the most organized of the Paralympic sports. Since then, other sports have caught up, and through Wounded Warriors and similar organizations they've actively recruited athletes who were looking for a fresh challenge. Sailing has been included in every Paralympics since 2000, so it's got history... but with 14 countries represented, it doesn't meet the current IPC standard for worldwide reach (24). That was the reason given for the decision.

The other unfortunate reality is that the Paralympics (like the Olympics) are increasingly favoring sports that look good on TV. While Paralympic sailing is breathtakingly hard, the degree of difficulty doesn't translate well to fast-paced video coverage. Compared to wheelchair rugby, navigating a Sonar around a set of buoys in five knots of breeze just doesn't look that exciting.

And one of the coolest things about Paralympic sailing—that disabled sailors can compete on an equal playing field with able-bodied ones—doesn't matter at all to the IPC folks. John Ruf might have won the 2009 2.4 Metre World Championship (an open event), but that's not what this group is considering when they discuss which sport would draw more eyeballs and sponsorship dollars to the Paralympic Games.

It's a big disappointment for our sport. And it should also be a big wakeup call for Olympic sailing, which shares many of the same faults when looked at the through the international Olympic/Paralympic lens.

I just signed the days-old petition to have the decision reversed, the 9357th person to do so. But the odds of overturning a unanimous decision of the International Paralympic Committee are pretty slim.

And Olympic sailing could be next.

Written by: Carol Cronin
Carol Cronin has published several novels about the Olympics, sailing, hurricanes, time travel, and old schooners. She spends as much time on the water as possible, in a variety of boats, though most have sails.