wakeboarding olympic games 2012, Rejected

Any thoughts on this... ie if it is not, why not!!
The sport has reached new heights people going bigger harder and more tech!!!!
besides it would be good to see some of the top uk riders smashing some usa riders!! Ho Ho
besides who really gives a shiz about shot putt
all they have to do is drop one lame sport and ta da!!! intoduce the world wakeboarding

Do you know the reason for the sport being rejected?

I'm not sure whether the olympics would be a good idea or a bad idea for the sport.....

It is a sport that is not 100% powered by humans. Look at all of the other sports in the Olympics, there are no engine powered sports. Wakeboarding requires a boat, or cable or winch, therefore it will never been an Olympic sport.

I don't think it would be a very good idea to have wakeboarding in the olympics... can you say style-less?

Patrick you are right

I personally don't understand the hassle about having a an engine powered watersport in the olympics. I've heard that slalom skiing used to be in the olympics back in the day.

I'm kindof on the fence though when it comes to the opinion of whether I would like to see it in the olympics. On one hand it is more exposure, but on the other hand it just doesnt really seem to fit in with all of the other sports (I personally still think its weird to watch snowboarding in the olympics)

just my 2 cents

My primary sport, BMX Racing debut last year and people didnt think it belonged either. The exposure is great though. We got alot of new riders now.

(Message edited by dixiebmxer on July 30, 2009)

They've been trying to get slalom skiing, jump & tricks in the olympics for many years with no success. Like Patrick said, not 100% human powered. They thought the cable would be the answer by eliminating the boat and driver, but no such luck.

Human power thing has nothing to do with it. Global participation by national governing bodies is the key. Skiers just did not have enough participation


For those who question if it should be an Olympic sport I have something to change your mind. $$$ This year the United States Olympic will pay any rider who is a member of USA Wakeboard $2500 if they place 1st in the IWSF World Championship because we are now a Pan American Sport. Now if we were in the Olympics that would be $25,000. Who the hell would turn that down?

Get used to it, same old arguments have been going on forever.

Any nation in the world can afford to have someone run around a dirt track, can the same thing be said when it comes to producing top level athletes who require 50-70 k minimum US of gear? Nevermind the cost of fuel, maintanence, season, etc.

Definately SHOULD NOT be in the olympics...you can just throw money at something and good will happen to it. Chris- Yes, $25,000 is a much better reward than $2500. But there's a reason why we have things like the Dew Tour (unfortunately not the X-Games). Its great to give a sport good publicity, but before you know it, you'll have huge corporate brands throwing their money at wakeboarding because of it being in the olympics. Im sorry but, i'd love wakeboarding to grow, but we only have so many lakes/rivers to ride on. Can we afford to grow it so big that we get even more idiots out on the lake not knowing what they're doing? Money is great for funding better ways to ride a wakeboard. But IMO, corporate is something i dont support. The olympics would definately commercialize the sport of wakeboarding and with hoe core this sport is, its not going to mix very well. I hope wakeboarding never makes it to the olympics, along with the other action sports. For the well-being of the core wakeboarder and our minimal list of locations to ride at, i say two thumbs down to the idea.

I meant you CANT throw money at something and good will happen to it**

I do agree, money is not the be all and end all!!The sport has a great culture and who really wants some more bez heads on the lake, but always remember most people were a bez at first,
Just would be good to see some of the top guys killing it on a larger scale!!

Tell your money theory to the women wakeboarders. 3 tour stops cut this year, no sponsor for next year and axed from Wakestock. How are they meant to make a living???

By going to college.

EEEK! Women wakeboarders were slashed from wakestock I finally decided to go watch this year.

You people who are saying wakeboarding in the olympics is bad for the sport are just saying sh$t with no understanding. Im sure if you Codi were ask to go to the olympics you would definately say no based on your response above. Maybe if wakeboarding was in the olympics our sport would not be in the trouble it is now. Struggling to sell boats, rumors of no Pro Tour (boat) next year and only having women at a few stops.

I understand the argument as to why wakeboarding is not in the olympics but it is not even in the X-games! That is a slap in the face to the sport in general. IMO

I was on the understanding that the Wakeboarding is out of the olympics because it's too equipment dependent (ie. a boat). While the rider obviously has the control behind the boat, without the machinery of the boat pulling, the rider has nothing, and that sets it apart from Snowboarding or something where it's just a rider and a pipe that is constant for everybody. That said... I want it in the olympics!!! lol

"By going to college."

Hilarious!! Bet people will take it a bit more seriously if MC decide not to sponsor the Pro Tour next year.

Corporate sponsorship. Bring it on. There is no money in the industry so why not get it from outside.

I understand why it is not in the Olympics but I would still like that to change.The more people that are exposed to the sport the better IMO.

In Europe - "wakeboarding!?"

"Yeah you know snowboarding?"

"Yeah?"

Well it's like that"

"But on water"

"Behind a boat"

"Ohhhh, ok??"

Like to see that change

I'd worry about getting it back into the X games first.

Chris is right about exposure, it needs to become more mainstream in the rest of the world to have a chance. Even here, I'm amazed how many people in Cali still don't know what it is.

Maybe cable parks will get WBing over the hump.

Jim T- THE WHOLE ECONOMY IS STRUGGLING! Action sports (including wakeboarding), is one of the only industries that hasnt gone bankrupt. WHich is why you have companies like Nike producing products now that are tailored towards action sports. Yes, wakeboarding can use more money, just like anyone else in this economy, but wakeboarding is doing much better than many other indiustries...

i think the whole drug test thing would be an issue too...

"i think the whole drug test thing would be an issue too..."

Well Kyle, with all due respect, that's just tough for the druggies.

Couple of years ago the UK team had to send their Gold medals back that they won at the European championships when the drug tests, taken about a month earlier at the UK nationals, were released.
Sucked for the kids in the team. Actually for all the people that won a medal that didn't do drugs.

Cannot turn down huge exposure and corporate investment because people do drugs.If somebody told you to clean up your act and you could win upward of 100K a year, wouldn't you do it?
Unless of course you were a raging addict, in which case you would probably be innefective as a serious competitor anyway.

wakeboarding dont belong in the olympics it belongs in x games

Codi- I fail to see your analogy "THE WHOLE ECONOMY IS STRUGGLING" post have to do about the olympics.

I know if someone offered me $25,000 for a gold medal...I woild take it in a heartbeat and I would think anyone else would too. Theres no doubt that it would be good for the wakeboarding industry.

Its kindof like questioning whether money is important... it kindof is but it kindof isnt

Another question is whether it would fully benefit the sport as a whole. I mean snowboarding is in both the olympics and the x games. Wakeboarding would just be in the olympics. Curling is just in the olympics. Would wakeboarding then be compared to curling before its compared with snowboarding?

how come wakeboarding got cut from the xgames anyways?

well it was supposedly originally because of location... as the center it was at wasnt close to a body of water...

but its become increasingly obvious what really happened

IMHO There are two ways - lower prices and many people wakeboarding, or doing it as a great show, few professionals, and a lot of money. The first way is the way of football (soccer) or baseball, the second way is like Freestyle Motocross. In EU we are definitely closer to the first one - many many cable parks and a lots of people participating. What we need to make the sport even more popular is local events. Then, I really don't think wakeboarding is about competitions and wining medals. Wakeboarding is about fun and friends and recreation. Cheaper equipment & local events is the key to get more people involved.

f*#k me!!! just think of a one or two week long wake board event!!! where every one who is interested in the sport on a global exposure is able to tune in and watch some of the best riders in the world coming together and riding their boards off ... how cool would that be!!! f*#k all the politics and the money issues that is just depressing ...x-games and the olympics
thats my 02 .

To qualify to be an olympic sport at least 50 countries must be registered, with the international sporting association. Also the level of competition also has to be of a high quality, amongst many countries, the IOC will not bring into the Olympic Games a sport in which only a few countries will win all of the medals.
Last week, Water skiing and Wakeboarding was an event at the World Games, this event is for all of the sports that have IOC classification, but not currently in the games. So wakeboarding is one of 33 sports waiting to get in the olympics.... It will be a long wait..... get used to it.

X - first. Wake clearly fits in that venue, but have serious doubts about olympics. Motor sports or motor powered sports would not line up that well with the traditional sports like swimming, track, boxing, or soccer IMO and if they did get in, it would probably get the same coverage fencing gets with the major networks, 15-30 minutes somewhere after 11:30PM, with a 30 second highlight somewhere in prime time. Yes the wake industry could use more exposure, but don't think the olympics is the right ticket.

A minor point, but there are some olympic sports that are not 100% human powered. Equestrian and target shooting come to mind.

What did really happen to wakeboarding in the X-games? Seems like exactly the right place for it, yet all I've ever heard is that they had location issues and expenses with setting up a whole production crew near water for just one event.

Travis Pastrana didn't want to compete in it.... his mom is afraid to go on the boat so they couldn't include her in it easily

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quote:

...all I've ever heard is that they had location issues and expenses with setting up a whole production crew near water for just one event.

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That's the reason. Too much money spent vs. how many viewers watched it on TV. Any time something like that is pulled from an event like the X-Games, you can bet your life it's because it wasn't generating enough money.

the number of tv viewers that watched wakeboarding xgames was nothing compared to the other sports and womens sk8 vert has higher viewings so that replaced it. they go off tv viewers and people paying comercials and if everyone changes the channel when wakeboarding comes on then why would people pay for thier advertisement. im not sure with this year because i didnt watch it much but i dont remember seeing womens skate vert this year.

"how are they meant to make a living"
-i think basically just go off how many "boards, handles, etc" girls sell and how many guys sell and break up the pay checks evenly. thats fair isn't it? i bet in 5-10 years womens wakeboarding will start to get big after more cable parks show up and hopefully boats get cheaper.

i bet it will be a long time before wakeboarding is in the olympics but lets face it wakeboarding isnt that big. skaters that never go into a single contest get payed 10-20 grand a month once they turn pro and about 5 g's a month while thier still considered am. go figure

(Message edited by hsryan33 on August 03, 2009)

u know I was just thinking, wouldnt the System 2.0 be the perfect solution for X-Games? Its relatively cheap and has the advantage of being able to be set up virtually anywhere. Throw a bunch of obstacles, kickers/rails and have a jam style format like the skate vert. A setup like the Redbull Wakelab would be an awesome addition to x-games