Wushu Pitches Weapons, "Different Culture" in 2020 Olympics Bid

(ATR) Vice President Anthony Goh tells Around the Rings the International Wushu Federation will do its best as the race for the 2020 Olympics heats up.

"We are excited" about IWUF’s first time on the IOC shortlist, he says from Beijing, his new home base after 30 years of business in Baltimore.

"Once we were recognized by the IOC in 2002, we started revising our competition rules to make the judging less subjective."

After staging its first junior world championships in 2006 and a demonstration of sorts at Beijing 2008, wushu was added to the World Games in 2009 and the inaugural SportAccord Combat Games in 2010.

The sport will also be included in the cultural program of the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games.

"We’re pushing it," the IWUF VP tells ATR.

"We’re really trying to make it more consistent with the Olympic formats of competition and also to spread it out" to other areas of the world.

Rooted in traditional Chinese martial arts and considered the country’s national sport, wushu is better known elsewhere as kung fu.

With member federations in 145 countries, it’s more popular in some regions than others, Goh admits, but would bring a "different culture" to the Games.

"The use of the weapons would also be very different for the Olympics," he adds.

IOC inspectors witnessed the contrast firsthand when wushu welcomed an evaluation team to its World Junior Championship in September as part of a series of visits to each of the seven shortlisted sports.

Cable wakeboard, karate, roller sports, squash, wushu and a joint bid by baseball/softball are the other six contenders facing a decision of the IOC Executive Board in May 2013.

"Some of the others are very strong as well," says Goh, stressing the "very positive" response he received from the IOC.

Because the world champs were for juniors, IWUF actually staged an adult demonstration as well to showcase elite wushu to the IOC delegation.

Also in Macau, federation leaders met with the IOC and were given "very valuable" and "very encouraging" advice regarding their December presentation to the Program Commission and what events they should propose.

The plan, according to Goh, is to ask for 72 athletes competing across four events: men's long fist, broadsword and long staff (one medal for all around); men's taiji fist and taiji sword (one medal for all around); women's long fist, sword and spear (one medal for all around); and women's taiji fist and taiji sword (one medal for all around).

In the meantime, he tells ATR, wushu has no formal campaign or PR strategy around its Olympics campaign, instead relying on IOC member and IWUF president Zaiqing Yu to lobby on behalf of the bid.

"We’re going to do our best," he says.

"We know it’s quite challenging, but we’re going to do our best."

Reported by Matthew Grayson

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