Sailing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was held from 8–18 August at Marina da Gloria in Guanabara Bay. The sailing classes had two changes from the 2012 Summer Olympics events. There were 10 events.
Overview.
Competition incidents.
Following the announcement of the games, water pollution became a hot topic, and a commitment to cleaning up the water was given by the hosts. This target was not fully achieved and water quality issues were frequently in the media. World Sailing examined various options including holding the racing fully outside the bay or even moving the event to Buzios. However, in the end only the Belgian sailor Evi Van Acker reported that her Olympics were affected. The German sailor Erik Heil was also infected by multi-resistant germs during an Olympic test event in Rio. The location for sailing events was a source of concern for athletes since scientists had found drug-resistant super bacteria in Guanabara Bay due to the daily dumping of hospital waste and household raw sewage into the rivers and ocean. The Brazilian federal government's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation lab also found the genes of super bacteria in a river that empties into Guanabara Bay.
Just before the games the launch ramp collapsed but no one was injured.
Competition format.
Qualification.
A total of 380 athletes competed in the sailing competitions of the Games. The qualification period began at the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships in September 2014. As hosts, Brazil was guaranteed one quota place in each of the ten events.
Scoring.
Racing at the 2016 Olympics was fleet racing where all competitors started and sailed the course together. They were scored according to the low-point system, where first place is scored 1, second place is scored 2, etc. There was a series of preliminary races followed by the final Medal Race. The RS:X, 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 classes had 12 preliminary races, other classes have 10.
At the end of the preliminary races, the top ten boats in each class (i.e. those with the lowest total scores) advanced to the Medal Race. Each boat might exclude one race from their total. The Medal Race could not be excluded from the series score and counts double. The boat with the lowest overall total after all races was the winner. Any ties in the final rankings were broken in favour of the competitor/crew finishing higher in the Medal Race.
Competition schedule.
The competition started on 8 August and finished on 18 August. 
Participation.
Participating nations.
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Medal summary.
Medal table.
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References.
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