Justina Kitchen overcame a ruptured ACL and will compete in Paris as the sailing class features in the Games for the first time

When New Zealand’s Justina Kitchen hits the water for the Paris Olympics next month in kite foiling, the 35-year-old will compete with an impact vest, a hook knife and a crash helmet.

The safety equipment is a requirement for kite foiling, a sport making its Olympic debut. It is considered the fastest sailing class, where competitors are harnessed to a large kite and routinely reach 48km/h (30mph) on a board that appears to hover over the water on a thin foil.