Kitesurfing has been added to the Olympics within the Sailing Competition of the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio. You may not have known that the IKA (International Kiteboarding Association) was seriously lobbying the Olympics to include their sport, but in fact, the fairly new sport had heavy-hitters such as Sir Richard Branson fighting hard from the start to get kitesurfing included in the Olympics.
Surprise surprise, Sir Richard Branson is even going to mark this wonderful occasion for him by attempting another extreme stunt.
“Kiteboarding is now an Olympic sport! To celebrate this, myself, my family and a few friends will this week attempt to kite across the English Channel to show off the beauty of kite-surfing.” – Sir Richard Branson
Windsurfing fans however may not be very stoked on the inclusion of kitesurfing (their sister sport) into the Olympics. This is because it came at the cost of windsurfing being replaced by kitesurfing within the sailing umbrella of competitions.
“After a long discussion with a lot of enthusiasm and support for both sports, ISAF Council voted with a 19 to 17 majority that Kiteboarding will replace Windsurfing for the men’s and women’s board events in Rio.” – ISAF
Kitesurfing or not, I want to be in Rio for the 2016 summer olympics.