Windsurfer (Mistral), Women

The 1996 windsurfing class, for both men and women, was changed to the Mistral One Design Class, which was first designed in 1989. It was also used for the windsurfing event at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. There were nine races with each sailor having two discards.

Lee Lai-Shan of Hong Kong, usually known as San-San, was the 1993 World Champion in Mistral, and was runner-up in the class earlier in 1996. In the first eight races in Savannah, she won only the eighth, but she already had four seconds and a third and this clinched the gold medal, allowing her to skip the final race. Hong Kong had competed at the Olympics since 1952, but San-San’s gold was their first ever Olympic medal.

Runner-up Barbara Kendall had won the 1992 windsurfing gold medal and would add a bronze in 2000 to complete her collection. Her brother was Bruce Kendall, who was the 1988 men’s windsurfing gold medalist. Barbara Kendall would become an IOC Member in 2005. Italy’s Alessandra Sensini had competed at the 1992 Olympics, finishing seventh, but her bronze medal here was her first of four consecutive Olympic windsurfing medals, winning gold in 2000, bronze in 2004, and a silver in 2008. Through 2012 she had also won four golds and eight medals at the World Championships.