Climbing Tweaks 2020 Bid; Archery Inks Clothing Sponsor; Shooting Adds Sprint Event

IFSC Tweaks Climbing Bid

Communications Director Anne Fuynel confirms the International Federation for Sport Climbing is changing up its 2020 bid.

"The IFSC decided to include all three disciplines (speed, lead, boulder) in our Olympic proposal," she tells ATR.

"This is mainly due to an analysis made after the World Championships in Paris in September 2012, where lead, speed and bouldering competitions took place alongside one another and also an overall medal was awarded. The spectacle and the complementarity of the three disciplines were evident in front of everybody and some time was needed before being announced, in order to amend the dossier presented in June 2012."

The original plan was to propose lead climbing with 30 men and 30 women, but IFSC President Marco Scolaris hinted in a November interview with ATR that a longer event might fit the Games schedule better and eventually extend the use of some facilities.

"The Olympic climbing proposal will combine three disciplines – lead, boulder and speed – and will award two gold medals, one for men and one for women. The event will last four days (two for women and two for men), with the same number of athletes as before: 30 men and 30 women," explains Fuynel.

" It will bring together all of the world’s best climbers as well as it will offer a complete presentation of the vertical challenges of climbing to the audience, while showing all the spectacular features each discipline has. The three together will be a perfect display of the Olympic motto."

Presentation of the new proposal will come May 29 on the sidelines of the SportAccord Convention in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the IOC Executive Board will decide which sports to recommend to the 2013 Session in September for addition to the 2020 Olympics.

Climbing is competing against karate, roller sports, squash, wakeboard, wrestling, wushu as well as a joint bid from baseball and softball for what will likely be only one open spot on the program.

Archery Inks FILA Sponsorship

Archery judges, officials and staff will wear FILA for at least the next four years.

The sponsorship deal between World Archery and Korea’s leading sportswear brand (not to be confused with the wrestling federation of the same name) applies to both World Cups and World Championships.

"Archery allows a partner such as FILA to be visible in very exciting venues like the World Cup Final in Paris later this year, where the arrows will be shot at the Trocadero Fountain with the Eiffel Tower behind the targets," WA Secretary General Tom Dielen said Thursday at a signing ceremony in Seoul.

"Archery also brings FILA to join other major global brands such as KIA Motors, Turkish Airlines and Longines as partners of an important core Olympic sport, and I am convinced that today is the start of a long-term relationship between FILA and World Archery".

Also in Seoul for the signing ceremony were WA Events Director Juan-Carlos Holgado, legendary Korean archer and WA Athlete of the Century Kim Soo Nyung as well as FILA Chairman Yoon Soo.

"FILA has been known as a global authentic sports brand by supporting numerous teams and athletes all over the world," Soo said.

"We are deeply honored to be the sponsor of the World Archery Federation, and we are promising that we will do our best to help the long-term success of World Archery".

ISSF Embraces Sport for All

President Olegario Vazquez Raña says the International Shooting Sport Federation’s newest event is so simple anyone can participate.

"We are developing ISSF Target Sprint under the rubric of Sport for All, which is a program now being strongly promoted by the IOC," he explains.

"We were looking for a new event that combines marksmanship and fitness, can be staged outdoors, and is accessible to everybody."

The new event mixes air rifle shooting and middle distance running, namely three 600m laps interspersed with two shooting stages of five targets a piece.

Its official debut will come May 26 during the 2013 ISSF Rifle and Pistol World Cup at the Hochbrück Olympic Shooting Range in Munich. All shooters are invited to give the target sprint a try.

"A pair of running shoes is all you need. Everything is designed to keep costs down for the athletes. The ISSF will provide targets and single-shot air rifles," says ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber.

"The game is as easy as it looks. Competitors will run on a track or running path and then stop at the air gun range to shoot at falling targets on their assigned firing points. There are no complicated scoring systems; the first athlete to cross the finish line is the winner."

UEFA Confirms Euro 2020 Timeline

Bidding for Euro 2020 begins next month, the UEFA Executive Committee confirmed Thursday.

Meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, the Ex-Co members approved the bidding requirements and regulations for cities wishing to stage a share of these special edition football finals.

Publication of the requirements and launch of the bidding phase will come April 26, and Sept. 11 is the deadline for formal confirmation of candidatures.

Bid dossiers will be due April 25, 2014 with an evaluation phase and potential site visits by UEFA to follow from May to August.

Appointment of the host cities by the UEFA Executive Committee is slated for September 2014.

Each of UEFA’s 53 member association will be allowed to present up to two bids, one for the 12 ordinary packages and one for the semi-finals/final package. A country can decide to present the same city for these two bids or two different cities. Venue proposals are required as part of bid submissions with a deadline of 2016 for the construction of any new stadium to start.

For more coverage of Euro 2020, follow World Football INSIDER.

Reported by Matthew Grayson

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