Top Story Replay - IOC Readies for Sports Vote; Federations Make Their Cases

This story was originally published Feb. 8.(ATR) Ahead of the IOC’s axing of one sport from the Summer Olympics next week, Around the Rings canvassed federations leaders and IOC insiders for their views on the controversial vote.

Last week, President Jacques Rogge told ATR the IOC's decision to cut a sport to create a core of 25 for the Games would be "very difficult".

ATR is told members of the Executive Board will make the tough call Tuesday morning, the opening session of its two-day meeting. The result will be announced at a noon press conference in the Lausanne Palace Hotel.

Two sports casually mentioned among thosemost at risk from the chop, modern pentathlon and badminton, also appear to have strong allies on the EB.

Though ATR understands modern pentathlon has received less favorable ratings than other sports in the IOC Program Commission’s report on London 2012,UIPM president Klaus Schormann is fighting "a good rearguard action" according to one IOC source.The federation’s proposal for a one-day event using just one stadium for Rio 2016 could be winning hearts and minds ahead of Tuesday's vote.

In the wake of the match tanking scandal at the London Games,an IOC source tells ATR the Badminton World Federation "got top marks for jumping on it as hard as it did" and sending home in disgrace all eight players involved.

Another IOC source said badminton’s Olympic status was not at risk, largely due to its strong growth, particularly in Asia.

Table tennis could also be considered because of the degree to which its field is dominated by Chinese competitors.

Key sports such as athletics, aquatics and gymnastics are highly unlikely to be cut.

However fraught the EB discussions become, according to Rogge there is no way the IOC will stick with 26 core sports.

Rogge drove home this message in his exclusive interview with ATR in which he stressed the need to balance the summer program.

"The satisfying of the list of the 25 core sports was the mandate of the IOC Session in Guatemala," he said. "In Guatemala we changed the charter and we have a very strong mandate for the IOC Session to come with a list of 25 sports, so we have to do this as the Executive Board."

EB members will meet again on the sidelines of SportAccord in St. Petersburg in May to decide which sport to add to the 2020 Olympics.

The sport cut on Tuesday still has the chance to maintain its Olympic status. It will join seven others vying for the coveted spot: karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, wakeboard, wushu and baseball/softball, the last two sports cut in 2005 after just a few Games each.

The two EB recommendations are then subject to a vote at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires in September.

Federations Make Their Cases

ATRcanvassed the 26 summer Olympic international federations up for discussion Tuesday asking why their sports should remain in the Games, receiving a number of respnses.

Athletics, basketball, boxing, canoe, fencing, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, rowing, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling did not reply, while modern pentathlon and taekwondo declined comment.

Click here to view the statements in their entirety, or read on for excerpts from each edited for length.

BWF, Secretary General and Chief Operating Officer Thomas Lund

Since badminton’s inclusion in the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, it has continually met all key evaluation criteria for Olympic disciplines. The 179-member BWF epitomizes the Olympic ideals of good governance and accountability.

Badminton is indisputably among the lucrative Asian market’s leading sports and helps drive the Olympic brand in this economically attractive region. While maintaining strongholds in Asia and Europe, badminton’s increasing popularity will see its signature Superseries extended to a third continent in 2014 (Oceania/Australia).

FEI, President Haya Bint Al Hussein

Equestrian sport celebrated 100 years in the Olympic movement at London 2012, with top class sport and stands filled to maximum capacity in all our disciplines, in a truly iconic venue. Our athletes generated unprecedented coverage in traditional and social media, establishing us as one of the most popular sports in the Games.

Equestrian sport is a unique sport where men and women, the young and the not so young compete on equal terms, and where the horse is an equal partner.

FIFA, President Joseph S. Blatter

Football and the Olympics is a long story. London 2012 confirmed football’s popularity with 1.9 million football tickets sold, over 25 percent of ALL Olympic tickets and record-breaking Olympic crowds for the women too. This demonstrates that the appetite for football within the Olympic Games remains as strong as ever.

FINA, President Julio C. Maglione

The Aquatic disciplines – Swimming, Marathon Swimming, Water Polo, Diving and Synchronized Swimming – are a pillar of the Olympic program and constitute an added-value for the success of this superb competition. The five Aquatic disciplines are held during the entire duration of the Olympic Games (two weeks), displaying the diversity of values associated to our sport: speed for Swimming, endurance for Marathon Swimming, team spirit for Water Polo, acrobatics for Diving and artistic for Synchronized Swimming.

ISAF, CEO Jerome Pels

Sailing is a beautiful dynamic sport occupying a unique position in the sporting landscape. It is a lifestyle sport with strong values of teamwork, respect, friendship and fair play.

Sailing offers opportunities to compete at the Olympic Games to a diverse range of athletic styles and ages.

The spectator experience at sailing is unique and the appeal worldwide. As both a competitive sport and a recreation activity, sailors are committed to preserving the natural environment they depend on.

ISSF, Secretary General Franz Schreiber

Shooting sport is one of the most universal sports on the international scene. The International Shooting Sport Federation represents 161 National Federations. Athletes from 108 countries qualified to compete in shooting in the 2012 Games; shooting ranked fourth among all Olympic sports in this principal measure of universality. Shooting is a dynamic, universal sport that brings enjoyment and fulfillment to its huge worldwide participation base as well as significant value to the Olympic Games.

ITTF, President Adham Sharara

According to the IOC's own assessments in previous Games, table tennis was always in the top five sports as far as TV world-wide audience (fifth in Athens, fourth in Beijing) and in London table tennis was one of the top sports (top 10) as far as percentage of spectators attending in comparisons with other sports. The ITTF is very confident that it is in absolutely no danger of even being considered for non-inclusion in the 2020 Games or beyond.

ITU, President Marisol Casado

Triathlon is a sport in which everyone can participate regardless of age or gender, and is particularly popular amongst youth. It has an enormous international fan base, as well as diverse elite talent, with our National Federation family having grown 20 percent in the last quad.

Triathlon venues are also environmentally friendly and cost-effective. They require little construction and offer open ticketing, which allows us to promote a healthy lifestyle legacy to thousands.

UCI

Cycling is one of the pioneers of the Olympic adventure: its traditional disciplines, road and track, have been part of the program since 1896. One hundred years later, in 1996, mountain biking became an Olympic sport in Atlanta, followed by cycling’s youngest discipline, BMX, in Beijing in 2008. A sport that has never lost sight of its traditions, but that also moves forward with the times, cycling is proud to share four of its diverse disciplines through the Olympic Movement.

WA, Secretary General Tom Dielen

Archery is a TV and spectator friendly sport; it’s universal; it’s cost-effective; it’s inclusive and gender-balanced; it’s attractive to the young; it’s a sport that can showcase the city and the venue as very well illustrated in Lord’s during the London Olympic Games; and it’s a clean sport. Archery has adapted to the current environment of the Olympic Games and continues to adapt its formats so that we remain attractive for the athletes, the spectators on television and on site.

Reported by Mark Bisson

All photos by Around the Rings

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