Paralympic sailing champion saddened to see sport dropped for Tokyo

Paralympic champion, Helena Lucas, remains deeply saddened by the fact her sport won’t appear at the 2020 Games in Tokyo and that her legacy is in jeopardy.

The Surrey star won sailing gold at London 2012 and then bronze at Rio 2016, but the sport was dropped from the Paralympic programme for next year’s showpiece in Japan, writes uk.sports.

With an appeal of the decision by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) falling on deaf ears, Lucas is saddened British athletes won’t get the chance to walk in her footsteps.

“Rio was always going to be my last Paralympics but it’s so sad to see it dropped from the programme,” says Helena.

“World Sailing are trying to get it reinstated, but it hasn’t happened yet, and the work is still going on in the background.

“I feel incredibly sorry for the athletes who are still on the programme, they don’t have the opportunity to have the dream that I did, of winning Paralympic gold.”

She was speaking at the Olympic Park in Stratford, where she joined 25 past and present British athletes to mark the 25-year anniversary of the National Lottery.

Helena went on to say that at a difficult time for her sport, Lottery Funding has been vital and will continue to fuel hope of a future for disability sailing.

“For sailing, it absolutely transformed our sport after 1997,” she says.

“I was one of the first few athletes to get on the Lottery Funding. We went from two silvers in Atlanta to three golds and two silvers in Sydney.

“It meant we could be full-time athletes and stop relying on having a sympathetic boss to give you time off to campaign. It was really hard for us to compete at the top level.

“I think the results speak for themselves really. For the youngsters to know you can have a career in the sport you love, it’s really important.”

Read the full article on uk.sports.yahoo.com.