IOC To Vote On New Olympic Sports For 2016
The International Olympic Committee is set to vote on which new sports will be added to the Olympic programme for the 2016 Games with two sports to be chosen from a shortlist of seven of which golf and rugby sevens are reportedly the frontrunners.
Delegations from both sports as well as softball, squash, karate, baseball and roller sports have been pitching to the IOC Executive Board for inclusion in the Olympics in seven years’ time.
According to the IOC, the seven-sport shortlist will be trimmed to ‘no more than four’ although the voting process at the board meeting in Berlin will provide a substantial insight as to which two sports will be added in 2016.
A final decision on the two new sports will not be rubber-stamped until an IOC meeting in Copenhagen in October.
Olympic golf was last played in Paris in 1900 and four years later in St Louis but then fell off the programme. One of the main issues has been whether top players will compete in the Olympics, when they already have a full Tour schedule.
However, golf’s bid to return to the Olympic programme has been backed by a number of senior players who have expressed their intention to compete should the sport be added to the 2016 Games.
Rugby union, which was last played at the 1924 Olympics in the full 15-a-side format, hopes to return in the faster, short-format seven-a-side version for both men and women, which is part of the Commonwealth Games.
Softball and baseball are seeking a return after being voted off the programme four years ago.
Baseball – which has failed to bring top US major league players to the Olympics – is offering a shortened five-day, eight-team format.
Softball, which rejected a proposal to combine its bid with baseball, has stressed its work in developing the sport among youth and women in the Middle East and Africa and in keeping free of doping scandals.
The World Karate Federation, comprising 180 national governing bodies, proposes to award 10 gold medals in five classes for each of the men’s and women’s competitions.
The International Federation for Roller Sports hopes to stage races on city streets for men and women, but not rink hockey or skateboarding, and fits the IOC’s desire to appeal to a younger audience.
While the World Squash Federation hopes that television-friendly, glass-enclosed courts can counter the sport’s reputation as one that struggles to translate the speed of play to viewers.
Squash is thought to be the second choice of many IOC officials, which could count in its favour if a compromise is needed.
The host city for the 2016 Olympics has yet to be announced with Chicago, Toyko, Rio de Janiero and Madrid in the frame.
The IOC meeting in Berlin will also see the Executive Board review modifications to the programme for existing Olympic sports for London 2012 with recommendations again to be finalised in October.
Women’s boxing is expected to be included in the Olympic programme, with more medals available for women across the board at London 2012.
Cycling, shooting, rowing and canoeing are aiming to add more women’s events, while swimming wants more sprints. However these sports must lose other events to keep within a limit of 10,500 athletes.
In all, 17 sports federations have made requests for modifications to their programmes for 2012. In Beijing 165 medals were available to men, compared to 124 for women.
