Kendall eyeing new boardsail for Beijing

Wellington
Barbara Kendall's participation in a fifth Olympic Games may well hinge on what she makes of the new boardsail to be used at Beijing in 2008 .
Kendall, surprised and thrilled on Friday to become the first New Zealander named on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes Commission, said a decision on competing at Beijing aged 40 would not come until later this year.
Crucial to the three-time medallist will be how she adapts to the Neil Pryde RS:X boardsail, which is replacing the Mistral board used at the last three Olympics.
Th e board, designed by Hong Kong-based New Zealander Neil Pryde, beat off six other designs late last year to win approval from the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) to succeed the Mistral.
Kendall won't have access to the new prototype until at least August this year, when testing is completed.
"So I have no idea what it's like or how it will suit me," Kendall told NZPA.
"Whether I continue competing is up in the air until I've seen this board and had a go on it.
"I might be way too small. It'll be the same set of skills but physically it might suit different people.
"If I get on it and decide I'm not big enough then I'll walk away."
She believed the ISAF had made the change to make windsurfing attractive to a wider audience.
Kendall, a mother of Samantha, three, has won Olympic gold (Barcelona 1992), silver (Atlanta 1996) and bronze (Sydney 2000) medals, and finished fifth at Athens last year after a campaign beset by bad luck. She doubted her new role on the IOC Athletes Commission would impact on any plans to continue competing at the highest level.
Australian Olympic swimming champion Susie O'Neill resigned from the post last week for personal reasons, with Kendall automatically taking the post as she received the second-most votes from athletes among the Oceania candidates at the Sydney Games. She will hold the position until the Beijing Games.
Kendall said she had no idea O'Neill was considering resigning, nor that she would then take over, so was stunned when contacted last week by New Zealand Olympic Committee president Eion Edgar.
She was not yet clear what IOC issues she would help preside over but was looking forward to learning the ropes and anticipated ample travel.
One privilege will be to cast a vote on the 2012 Olympic host city race, with the winning bid out of London, Moscow, Paris, Madrid or New York announced on July 6. She joins New Zealand's long-serving IOC member Tay Wilson with that right.
Kendall has been on the NZOC and Yachting New Zealand Athletes Commissions since 1996 when she felt several New Zealand sportspeople had been hard done-by over certain issues at the Atlanta Games.
She believes it is important there is a body to champion the rights of athletes or act as a mediator in disputes over issues such as selection criteria or drug use allegations.
"There are things that have happened over the years that have made me feel this way," she said.
"I think there shouldn't be a big gap between sports organisations and athletes.
"It has improved a heck of a lot since Atlanta. This last Olympics had the fewest gripes New Zealand athletes have had against organisations, which is awesome." - NZPA