There are no shortcuts to reaching the Olympic podium, and when Tokyo 2020 was postponed one year, that was one less year to prepare for Paris 2024. That translates to winter training, and Spain’s Canary Islands have become an intriguing venue.
Lanzarote, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, is home to 2023 Lanzarote International Regatta on February 9-17. For the third consecutive year, the Olympic season gets underway amid its year-round warm weather, beaches, and volcanic landscape.
Located on the south coast of Lanzarote, Marina Rubicón will host six of the ten Paris 2024 Olympic events: Nacra 17 (mixed double class), 470 (mixed double class), 49er (men’s double class), 49er FX (women’s double class) and iQFOiL (men’s and women’s categories).
And the show has just begun, as Marina Rubicón and Lanzarote have been designated in 2024 as the venue for three world championships and Olympic qualifiers for the 49er, 49er FX, iQFOiL classes (male and female categories).
“The Lanzarote International Regatta served as an Olympic qualifier for Tokyo 2020 and will also be for Paris 2024,” said Rafael Lasso, CEO of Marina Rubicon and organizer of the event. “In fact, 21 medals of the 30 distributed for sailing at Tokyo were for teams that train on the island, so we can expect that the medals in Paris will be for sailors who have been forged in our islands.”
The island of Lanzarote has been serving as a venue for athletes from around the world for almost a decade, but now it has also established itself as a training base for Olympic sailing athletes, especially after the first edition of the Lanzarote International Regatta.
“The teams are usually training from October to April on the island, as the international circuit begins, which is why we have promoted the Lanzarote Sailing Center training base with a training schedule for each class,” said Lasso.
Thanks to the joint effort to carry out these events and the investment in sports facilities, practically all the Olympic sailing classes are currently represented, which has turned the island into the pre-Olympic winter training base for elite sailors from all over the world.
“The success in the organization of these world competitions is due to the collaboration between public administrations, but also with private entities, sailing federations, sponsors… to whom we must thank for all the support,” added Lasso.
Likewise, the collaborators of the competition value “very positively” the high level of the island’s business network around the nautical sector since it has infrastructures and marinas highly valued by the sailors themselves.
In this sense, the island itself has become a natural gym for athletes, who practice a multitude of sports and outdoor activities for training, which has made Lanzarote the perfect place to live and prepare for the Olympics.
Details: https://www.lanzarotesailingcenter.com/lanzarote_international_regatta/index.php
