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IOC announces new sports for 2016 Olympics
Golf and rugby sevens have been
recommended for inclusion in the 2016
Olympics after the International Olympic
Committee’s Executive Board voted for
their addition to the Olympic programme
during a meeting held in Berlin on 13 and
14 August.
The federations of the seven sports
competing for two spots in the 2016
Olympics made their presentations to the
IOC. Representatives from the governing
bodies for baseball, softball, roller sports,
karate and squash along with golf and
rugby sevens made a pitch to the IOC.
Each federation was given 45 minutes to
present their case to the IOC Commission
followed by a question and answer
session.
The recommendation must be rubber-
stamped by a full meeting of the IOC
congress in Copenhagen in October.
Golf was played at the Paris Games in
1900 and four years later in St Louis,
but has never returned to the Olympic
agenda.
The proposed format would be a 72-
hole strokeplay competition for men and
women, with 60 players in each field.
The world’s top 15 players would qualify
automatically, and all major professional
tours would alter tournament schedules
to avoid a clash with the Olympics.
IOC president Jacques Rogge said
winning an Olympic gold medal would
remain one of the main ambitions for top
golfers, despite the traditional lure of the
four major championships - the Masters,
the Open, the US Open and the USPGA.
Rogge said: ‘This is the young generation
that will be at its peak in 2016. The
same question was raised time and time
again when tennis and ice-hockey were
introduced.
‘Ask Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, ask
the NHL players, ask the NBA basketball
players. They all want to go to the games
- they are absolutely not concerned
about that.’
Fears that a number of the sport’s top
players would not compete in the Games
have proved unfounded with world
number one Tiger Woods leading the
way in stating his intention to take part.
Tiger Woods was among a raft of players
who had written to the IOC giving their
support to golf’s inclusion as an Olympic
sport. Padraig Harrington and Colin
Montgomerie were among 18 players
who had all sent letters of support to IOC
members from their countries.
Rugby union, which was played in
four different Olympics between 1900
and 1924 in the full 15-a-side format,
proposed the seven-a-side version for
both men and women.
The International Rugby Board would
scrap its Sevens World Cup to ensure
the Olympics is the sport’s top event.
Sevens rugby is already part of the
Commonwealth Games.
The 15-member board selected the
proposed sports for 2016 by secret
ballot over several rounds, with the sport
receiving the fewest votes eliminated
each time. Rugby was the clear winner
overall, getting seven votes in the first
round and a majority of nine in the
second. In a separate ensuing vote, golf
needed four rounds to get through.
Karate actually led the first round with
five votes, with golf getting three. Golf
then got six votes in the second, seven in
the third and nine in the fourth.
The four cities bidding to host the
2016 Games, Chicago, Madrid,
Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo,
have also made their
presentations
to
IOC members.