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Two pairs of world champions were crowned today with the conclusion of the 2021 470 World Championships. Additionally, this event doubled as the European qualifier for the 2020 Olympics. The highest ranked eligible boat in the men’s and women’s event qualified to the games. The 470 World Championships were held in Vilamoura, Portugal from March 5th to March 13th 2021. The men’s 470 began with 2019 world silver medalists Jordi Xammar and Nicolas Rodriguez of Spain taking an early lead. Trouble first appeared during the fifth race where the pair finished 19th, making it the dropped score. However, a 20th place finish on the seventh race held on the third day meant the duo had to take on the 19 points from the previous day. This forced them to drop to fourth at the time and allowed for 2019 world bronze medalists Anton Dahlberg and Fredrik Bergstrom of Sweden and Russians Pavel Sozykin and Denis Gribanov to take a joint lead. Dahlberg and Bergstrom took sole possession of the lead by the end of the fourth day and was able to extend their lead to 11 points going into the medal race. The pair sailed a safe final race to win their first world title with a net score of 52 points. The silver medal was won by Portugal’s Diogo and Pedro Costa (73 points) whom also won the Olympic quota for their nation while the bronze medal was won by Xammar and Rodriguez (78 points). The women’s 470 similarly saw 2019 world bronze medalists Camille Lecointre and Aloise Retornaz of France take a first day lead. A relatively poor third and fourth races allowed Spain’s Silvia Mas and Patricia Cantero, 2018 world silver medalists to take the lead by five points. The Spanish pair remained consistent, but were challenged by Afrodite Zegers and two-time Olympic medalist Lobke Berkhout of the Netherlands. Despite being behind by 21 points after the sixth race, the pair made a comeback over the next five races to cut the lead down to three. The medal race saw Mas and Cantero take the shadow strategy where they remained closely behind Zegers and Berkhout to prevent them from finishing two places ahead. This allowed Mas and Cantero to win the gold medal by a single point (75 points) ahead of Zegers and Berkhout. The bronze medal was won by Italy’s Elena Berta and Bianca Caruso (84 points). The Olympic quota was won by Turkey’s Beste Kaynacki and Okyanus Arikan. This completes the 470 class line-up for the Olympics. All that remains is for all nations to accept their quotas. Should a nation decline a quota, the next eligible nation at the 2019 World Championships will then be offered a spot to compete. Qualified Nations Men's 470 Portugal Women's 470 Turkey

Update March 18th 2021 The second of four rowing continental qualifiers has been completed with the conclusion of the 2021 Americas Olympic Qualification Regatta. In terms of Olympic qualification, five single sculls boats and three lightweight double sculls boats were set to be awarded. An additional rule was implemented for the continental regattas where nations can only qualify one boat (the highest ranked boat) or two if both boats finished first. The Americas Olympic Qualification Regatta was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from March 4th to March 6th 2021. The men’s single sculls were won by the host nation’s Lucas Ferreira whom won all three races he participated in including a time of 7:24.86 in the final. This was one second ahead of Chile’s Felipe Cardenas (7:25.90) while the bronze was won by Argentina’s Axel Haack. The Olympic quotas were awarded to Brazil, Peru, Bermuda, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. 2019 Pan American Games women’s lightweight single sculls gold medalist Kenia Lechuga of Mexico showed she is just as talented on the regular weight boats by winning the women’s single sculls event with a time of 8:04.62. Lechuga is no stranger at this boat class as she has competed at the 2019 World Championships and at the 2016 Olympics. She finished ahead of Paraguay’s Alejandra Alonso (8:09.82) and 2019 Pan American Games silver medalist Felice Chow of Trinidad and Tobago (8:13.91). The Olympic quotas for this event were awarded to Mexico, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba and Puerto Rico. The largest upset occurred in the men’s lightweight double sculls where Uruguay’s Bruno Cetraro and Felipe Kluver came back from a defeat by Chile’s Cesar Abaroa and Eber Sanhueza during the heats to win in the final by 0.32 seconds with a time of 6:37.97. The bronze medal was won by Brazil’s Evaldo Morais and Emanuel Borges (6:40.36). The Olympic quotas were awarded to Uruguay, Chile and Venezuela. The women’s lightweight double sculls were won by Argentina’s Milka Kraljev and Evelyn Silvestro whom finished with a time of 7:30.21, more than four seconds ahead of Brazil’s Isabelle Camargos and Vanessa Cozzi (7:34.62). 2019 Pan American Games silver medalists Yoselyn Carcamo and Isidora Niemeyer of Chile won the bronze medal with a time of 7:43.27. The Olympic quotas were awarded to Argentina and Guatemala. However, due to no other eligible nations taking part in this event the quota will be reallocated to the next highest ranked boat at the final qualification regatta. Two more continental qualification regattas remain. Unqualified Pan American nations will have one more opportunity to qualify to the Olympics via the final qualification regatta to be held in the coming months. Qualified Nations Men's Single Sculls Bermuda Brazil Dominican Republic Nicaragua Peru Women's Single Sculls Cuba Mexico Paraguay Puerto Rico Trinidad and Tobago Men's Lightweight Double Sculls Chile Uruguay Venezuela Women's Lightweight Double Sculls Argentina Guatemala Reallocated

China’s Yang and Hu finished ahead of their compatriots to win the 2021 Nacra 17 Asian Championships. By winning they have also qualified a quota for China to compete at the Olympics in this event. The Nacra 17 Asian Championships was held in Shanghai, China from March 1st to March 6th 2021. The first two days saw China’s Shi Junjie and Zhang Yingying with the lead thanks to winning five of the first seven races. Behind them by three points were Yang Xuezhe and Hu Xiaoxiao. However, by winning all three races held on the third day Yang and Hu took the overall lead by a single point. The pair continued their strong performance by winning four out of the five final races to win with a net total of 19 points. Shi and Zhang won silver (24 points) while their compatriots Mao Hui and Zhou Qianqian won bronze (38 points). This was the final opportunity for Asian nations to qualify in the Mixed Nacra 17 Foiling event. Two more quotas remain set to be awarded to an African and European nation. Asian nations still have opportunities to qualify in 6/10 sailing events set to be held in the coming weeks. Qualified Nations Mixed Nacra 17 Foiling China