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Old     (wakeworld)      Join Date: Jan 1997       10-29-2012, 6:17 PM Reply   
There's a survey on SportsPro.com asking which of a set of new sports should be included in the Olympics. If you go to the link below, you can vote for wakeboarding and check out the results. Right now we're in third behind Roller Sports and Karate. Ouch!!

http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/p..._olympic_games
Old     (jhartt3)      Join Date: Jan 2012       10-29-2012, 6:32 PM Reply   
karate? roller sports... people would rather watch roller blading ... wow
Old     (ralph)      Join Date: Apr 2002       10-29-2012, 8:37 PM Reply   
Eh, why would I want Wakeboarding in the Olympics? I am pretty happy with the state of the sport now, IMO the last thing we need is more corporate BS invading the sport.
Old     (benjaminp)      Join Date: Nov 2008       10-29-2012, 10:12 PM Reply   
I also dont believe wakeboarding should be in the Olympics. I'd love to see us back in the X Games or into the Dew Tour, but the Olympics doesnt even make sense. Wakeboarding is essentially a motorsport. And I dont want to see the type of wakeboard competition that would be in the Olympics. I'd rather it be made bigger by the action-sports crowd, for the action-sports crowd. Or even better, for more evens like Wake The Line, Wake Open, and Wake Lab to become more frequent and bigger.

Plus I already voted for climbing.
Old     (TheHebrewHammer)      Join Date: Jun 2011       10-29-2012, 11:07 PM Reply   
I voted for wakeboarding, but ya, I'm not really all that interested in seeing what the international skiing bodies will do to it.
Old     (cheesydog)      Join Date: Mar 2009       10-30-2012, 2:44 AM Reply   
I think it would be great for the sport personally, Olympic recognition means more dollars for the sport. It means governments actually spending money on facilities and sponsoring athletes to train.

The upcoming Cable World Championships in the Philippines will play a large role in determining if wakeboarding goes through. Olympic officials will be attending the event to check it out and see if they think it makes sense.

So if it ever does go through it would most likely follow the IWWF competition format which although by no means perfect is at least a proven successful competition format that has been used primarily in Europe for quite a few years now.
Old     (cwb4me)      Join Date: Apr 2010       10-30-2012, 4:15 AM Reply   
It would also create enthusiasm for youth aspiring to be olympians.
Old     (skiboarder)      Join Date: Oct 2006       10-31-2012, 7:21 AM Reply   
Waterskiing almost killed itself chasing the olympic pipe-dream in the late 90s early 2000s. It actually worked the exact opposite of what you would think. Countries that base their worth on olympic metals spent millions on their athletes (average people in bella-russia don't waterski) and all but the wealthy elite were able to keep up with the cost in the US. To be considered for the mock-olympic team you had to spend hundreds of thousands to travel in a sport that just doesn't pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to play. On top of that, you become subservient to international committees that require regular drug testing, video timing equipment....,...,...Money,... I watched it all second-hand, but it was sad.

I am all for getting back into the XGames, but the truth is the Xgames isn't what it used to be. It used to be a showcase of athletes, now it is just a stunt show. At one point there were 60 or so events. What are they down to now--Single digits and rally car racing??
Old     (scott_a)      Join Date: Dec 2002       10-31-2012, 10:43 AM Reply   
re: skiing not being in the Olympics, I remember someone saying that a big reason was because it was a motor-driven event. No current events require engines to propel the athlete - they're all athlete-driven.

IMO, best case scenario is that Dew Tour brings in a system 2 or a winch park.
Old     (Kane)      Join Date: Mar 2010       10-31-2012, 11:03 AM Reply   
I understand the concerns about extra corporate involvement.
However the format being proposed is cable, no boats, no engines. Hence may succeed where the skiing bid failed.
But what it's inclusion would mean is that cable's would start popping up globally and would increase the number of riders and help push the sport.
Old     (benjaminp)      Join Date: Nov 2008       10-31-2012, 1:05 PM Reply   
How much would it cost to build a cable park in every city hosting the summer games? This is a serious question, I have no idea how much it would cost to set up a cable park, but I would be interested to see how it stacks up to the other stupid structures that they build for the games and then never use again.
Old     (stuey)      Join Date: Dec 2004       10-31-2012, 4:24 PM Reply   
Ben - it would probably cost 1-3 Mil to build a full size park (probably a little closer to the 3M side if you are building an Olympic quality venue - ie larger operations building, full change rooms, showers, able to accommodate temporary grandstands, etc.)

I live in Vancouver and the facilities and upgrades cost around $600M for the 2010 games, so 3M is a drop in the bucket. Not to mention a cable can continue to generate revenue after the games.
Old     (VinnyA)      Join Date: Aug 2011       10-31-2012, 6:39 PM Reply   
I think it'd be sick. i don't really understand the arguments against it. Snowboarding coexists peacefully in the dew tour and the olympics. Sure politics come with it, but the opinions against/for competition riding in snowboarding are the exact same as what we have with the whole "style"vs tech argument in wakeboarding currently. i don't think the olympics would push riding stylishly....but it would expand the audience for wakeboarding...build cables across the globe...and as far as I'm concerned the more people riding wakeboards --> the better wakeboarding will become. More and more Stylish/ gifted/ talented riders like Daniel Grant will continue to pop up if more and more kids want to wakeboard.
Old    LR3w8kbrdr            10-31-2012, 7:45 PM Reply   
I think this would not only affect wakeboarding but the watersports industry in general. You get the big sponsors behind it (energy drinks, board sponsors and even boat manufacturers) and it could be a success. Waterskiing in the past didnt have companies like Red Bull or Monster behind it like wakeboarding does now. Cable parks are much bigger right now in the European countries than here in the US with so many more available.

Not sure the 3million price tag is accurate, maybe by the time you add facilities & purchasing of land maybe but they can be done much cheaper.
Old     (stuey)      Join Date: Dec 2004       10-31-2012, 8:49 PM Reply   
^^^ I agree. Sponsors in olympics don't really sponsor particular events, but the recognition of medal willing riders would increase globally and sponsors would take notice. The trickle effect would be huge. I guarantee you more people know who Shaun White is over Bob Soven, not only for his podium performances but his huge brand recognition.

Now I realize what I'm saying is a long way off BUT - you could argue that - with wakeboarding in the olympics and a cable park in every area - wakeboarding could become as popular as snowboarding. I don't think us North Americans can really fathom how popular cable is in Europe - I see pictures and videos and these places are packed even in the cold and rain. It's so huge out there.

I realize cable parks could be built cheaper, but I'm thinking of an Olympic quality park. I wasn't including land cost in the 3M because that can vary depending on where it's placed. A basic park is going to cost you 1M - but I would think to be Olympic suitable, they would have to be built to a higher standard, more like Al Forsan where they have held the WWA Worlds. They need to be able to host 100's of riders with suitable facilities and hold thousands of spectators and media.

Even still, whether it cost $1M or $10M, it's still a very small percentage of an Olympic budget.
Old     (Kane)      Join Date: Mar 2010       11-01-2012, 3:22 AM Reply   
It's not just the sponsor ship, right now in Ireland (where I wakeboard) there are no cable parks, local government do not know what wakeboarding is and have no interest in supporting it or allowing planning permission to build one.
There are plans to put a System 2.0 in but planning permission seems to be the biggest obstacle.
We had one set up temporarily this summer and it was booked out for the entire time.
Since mountainbiking has been added to the olympics we've had a number of trails developed and they are fantastic and have really added numbers to the sport. Government tend to just throw money at sports they know like football.

As for the popularity of cable in Europe, yeah it is very popular but fuel is around $8.30 per gallon so running a boat ain't cheap!
Old     (yeahhh)      Join Date: Feb 2011       11-02-2012, 2:40 PM Reply   
I really hope wakeboarding doesn't make it to the Olympics. Not only does it not deserve it, but it would just look ridiculous.
Old     (redsupralaunch)      Join Date: Aug 2002       11-02-2012, 6:27 PM Reply   
This quest to the Olympics has already paid well for our athletes. $100,000 cash purse was just given for the '12 IWWF Cable World Cup in Tokyo for just one event. You can read more from Austin Hair about the event here on Wakeworld, but what I would like to point out is that the Government put up the cable just for the event. This showcased cable in a very unique way as, most say that Tokyo is most likely in the lead to score the 2020 Olympics where Cable would premier in the Olympic Games.

Although wakeboard is not in the Olympics, we are already very much part of the Olympic movement. Last year when I sent Andrew Adkinson with USA Team Coach Dave Briscoe to the Pan American Games, the United States Olympic Committee paid $2,500 to Andrew for the winning the Gold. But if Cable get into the Olympic Games the cable payday goes to $25,000 direct from the USOC.
Old     (behindtheboat)      Join Date: Aug 2006       11-02-2012, 7:10 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by yeahhh View Post
I really hope wakeboarding doesn't make it to the Olympics. Not only does it not deserve it, but it would just look ridiculous.
you overly care what other people look like.
Old     (benjaminp)      Join Date: Nov 2008       11-03-2012, 10:53 AM Reply   
My whole cost inquiry was based a little bit around use after the games. You would think all these state-of-the-art structures would be fantastic for encouraging participation in those sports after the games, but you might be surprised. Montreal's facilities when to $#!+ after the games there, and even the swimming pool in Beijing (that big blue cube) had to be converted into a water park for people to keep using it. I would be stoked if every city that held the summer games would then have a cable park running close to the city, but I just don't see it happening if sports like track and swimming cant pull it off.
Old     (srock)      Join Date: Mar 2002       11-04-2012, 5:55 AM Reply   
I don't think it will ever happen. The cable is the best chance that Wakeboarding has to ever be an Olympic sport. If you cannot hold the X-games audience you are not going to capture the worlds attention.
Old     (behindtheboat)      Join Date: Aug 2006       11-05-2012, 12:02 PM Reply   
Do people even really watch Summer X/Travis Pastrana games anymore? I don't, wait, I do watch the women's endurocross or whatever because that is hilariously sad to watch, otherwise, there is only one X games anymore in my mind, and that's the Winter X games. Summer X is a joke and a half.

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