Perhaps because Ireland failed to win any medals in sailing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the Irish Times is calling on the International Olympic Committee to remove sailing from the 2028 Games.

The purpose of their competition analysis is that the Olympics keep adding new competitions. They talk about a 41 percent increase since the 1992 Barcelona Games and 20 percent since London 2012. How much is too much, they ask? Here is their case for cutting sailing:

How many of you own a boat? How many of you could afford a boat and – look – a sea to sail on? Of all the many anachronisms in the modern Olympics, sailing is perhaps the most striking of all: a continuing concession to the super-rich men who founded the Games and still love yachts, and basically out of reach of most countries in the world, even those with an attractive coastline.

Plus, as a spectator sport, it’s basically unwatchable, can be postponed if there’s no wind or if it’s too strong, and has a number of penalty rules that are only understandable to the most avid boaters, which, as we’ve discovered, is almost certainly not yours. – Full Report

Editor’s note: In case you’re wondering: yes, they also want to chop everything up with a horse.

Olympic sailing program 2024 in Paris:
Single dinghy for men – ILCA 7
Women’s single dinghy – ILCA 6
Mixed two-person dinghy – 470
Men’s Skiff – 49er
Women’s Skiff – 49erFX
Kiteboard for Men – Formula Kite Class
Kiteboarding for Women – Formula Kite Class
Windsurfing for Men – iQFOiL
Windsurfing for women – iQFOiL
Mixed multihull – Nacra 17

Venue: Marseille, France
Dates: 28 July – 9 August

Details:
• Paris website: https://www.paris2024.org/en/the-olympic-games-paris-2024/
• World Sailing microsite: https://paris2024.sailing.org/