Rogge angers sports vying for their Olympic place

Posted: Thursday 26th March 2009 | 11:26

HOPES are fading fast for women's ski-jumping's aspirations for inclusion at next year's Olympic Winter Games.

UNDER FIRE: IOC President Jacques Rogge didn't meet with women ski-jumpers and his Executive Board's decision about the proposed new sports at the 2016 Summer Olympics has angered some of his members (Getty Images)

This week their high on passion, low on funds lobbying campaign pitched its tent in Denver, where the annual SportAccord convention, a global gathering of sporting powerbrokers, was being held.

They pleaded with Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee's president, for an audience.

They held a press conference stating their aims, claiming to have sent letters and faxes to the IOC's Lausanne headquarters.

But the silence was deafening.

Rogge, who was in Denver for the IOC's Executive Board meeting and a gathering of the General Association of International Sports Federations, left town without a word.

An IOC spokesman later claimed he hadn't received a request for a face-to-face meeting with two athletes.

"It's very disappointing and it's hard to take because we've put our lives into this," said Canada's Katie Willis, who is slowly accepting that her dreams of competing at a home Olympics will be dashed.

American Lindsey Van - who won the inaugural women's World Championships in Liberec earlier this year - is part of a law suit involving 15 jumpers from six nations.

They are pursuing a legal case in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, venue for next year's Games, citing discrimination.

"Basically our funding now goes out the window," she said.

And it's not just women's ski jumping that is sweating on its Olympic inclusion.

The seven sports vying for two available slots at the 2016 Summer Games were also pressing the flesh and stating their case at SportAccord.

When baseball and softball were removed from the schedule for London 2012 it left only 26 core sports, two less than the three previous Games in Athens, Sydney and Atlanta.

The IOC want the schedule to include 28 sports but squash and karate failed to win the votes from the required two-thirds of the membership in 2005.

At October's IOC session in Denmark they will try again - along with golf, roller sports and rugby sevens, while baseball and softball are looking for reelection.

This time it will be easier, a simple majority will be needed.

However, this week's Executive Board voted to narrow the field to just two sports in advance of the session in Copenhagen. Golf - which planned to invite the legendary Jack Nicklaus to Denmark, in a bid to sprinkle some star power of their bid - will need to think again.

The board - which is comprised of Rogge, four vice-presidents and 10 IOC members - will now meet in Berlin on August 13th to make their choices.

And some IOC members are less than happy they won't get a choice from the full list of candidate sports.

"Something this important - the sports included at the Olympics - should be decided by the entire electorate of the IOC," said one European-based member.

"The Executive Board cannot make all the major decisions and then just expect the full membership to rubber stamp them on demand.

"Outside of deciding host venues, there is nothing more important than deciding the sports that will compete at the Games."

JAMES TONEY

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