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OLYMPICTIONARY
In the Sailing event, people race each other in sailboats. Wind fills the sails making the boats move quickly through the water.
There will be 11 sailing events over 15 days and 9 different kinds of boats will participate. The boats are all different sizes ranging from a tiny sailboard, a surfboard with a sail, to boats that are so big they need a team to race them. Each country can only enter one boat in the sailing event.
There are two kinds of races: fleet racing and match racing. In match racing, two boats race against each other. In the fleet racing events, many boats race against each other at the same time. Most events are fleet races and the first boat to cross the finish line wins the race. Boats win points for how they placed in finishing the race. So, the first place winner receives one point, the second place finisher two points, third place three points, and so on. Sailors participate in more than one event, so the winner is determined based on a few races. Unlike other Olympic events, the boat with the least points wins!
Ones to Watch: Paul Elvstrom from Denmark is considered one of the best sailors in this competition. The United States generally wins most of the Olympic sailing medals, but Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, and France also do well.
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