Windsurfing restored to Brazil 2016 Olympics

Windsurfing will remain in the Olympic programme after the International Sailing Federation reversed a decision to replace it with kiteboarding.

Both men's and women's windsurfing will be retained after a vote at the governing body's annual general meeting in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland.

The reversal comes after a surprise decision in May to drop windsurfing for kiteboarding at the 2016 Olympics.

Delegates later blamed the move on confusion due to language difficulties.

The ISAF at the time described the move as a "fantastic addition" but windsurfing federations vowed to pressure sailing chiefs to reinstate their sport.

British windsurfer Nick Dempsey, who won silver at last summer's London Olympics, condemned the decision as "bizarre" back in May.

Israel's sailing chief Yehuda Maayan later revealed that, in voting for kiteboarding, delegates had probably been confused or did not understand the motion because of ambiguous language translations.

Among those, the Spanish Sailing Federation has since acknowledged that its representative voted for kiteboarding by mistake.

The Royal Yachting Association has been among those campaigning for windsurfing and its performance director, John Derbyshire, said: "This is what the membership of the RYA asked for.

"We have a very strong youth pathway and some 10,000 windsurfing members of the RYA, so on their behalf we are delighted with the decision.

"We obviously have great compassion towards the kiteboarding community, with whom we have been working very closely, and I am sure that they will continue to work very closely with both the RYA and ISAF families with a view to gaining inclusion for the discipline in future Olympic Games.

"We can now look forward to preparing for Rio 2016 with the clarity that this decision brings."