Olympic Sport

I'm down here in Sydney, and they had a show on TV this morning, that a group in Sydney is pushing to get wakeboarding into the next olympics.

Do you think with newer/extreme sports like snowboarding and BMX being introduced to the olympics recently wakeboarding will become an olympic sport?

i love wakeboarding don't get me wrong but its very unlikely...it can't even stay in the X games let alone the olympics!

well if badmitton, table tennis, and trap shooting are all olympic sports, i dont see why wakeboarding couldnt make it. Plus it wouldnt be a wash like basketball or baseball, where only america is good ya know, wakeboarding is international

plus you know how "olympic" size is always bigger, what if they made a custom olympic size tow boat, with an olymic size wake, and olympic size D-ups with olympic size rails and sliders!

From what I understand, the olympics does not allow motorized sports to participate. That is why there is no waterskiing, which has been around much longer than wakeboarding.

You could always push for Kiteboarding

Or put a tower on Phelps...

yea mike is under the same impession i am, its not man-powered so no go.

No way they will allow kiteboarding any more thank wakeboarding because it's not "man-powered".

Basically if it's cool, it's only got a chance in the Gravity Games or X-Games.

Bill how did they power the windsurfing then? A load of people on the beach farting?

Oh and what about the sailing? That man powered too?

(Message edited by jayc on August 21, 2008)

And the equestrian "sports"? Not man powered. Person with the best horse wins. Gotta pay to play!

(Message edited by timmy on August 21, 2008)

TJ it must be nice to be sittin in Sydney and on wakeworld. I am always trying to find and watersports on tv but I can never find them. Anyone give me a heads up on when they are on tv or what?

There are many factors for a sport to be considered for the Olympics. One of which is that there needs to be a certain number of countries who participate around the world with actual National Governing Bodies who are registered with their National Olympic Committee. I'm not sure what the exact number is but as popular as wakeboarding is around the world, I'm not sure how many countries are that organized.

Also, sports such as Equestrian have the "Tradition" factor since they've been in since the beginning of the Modern Olympics. Sports such as women's softball, which started in 1996, doesn't have that going for it and the US Women have dominated since it's inception and because of their dominance, the IOC decided to drop it from the Games since it's apparent that it's not competitive at then international level. So this is the last Games we will see Women's Softball unless something changes. And from what I hear, men's baseball could be on the chopping block as well.

There will be no softball or baseball in the next olympics, they are trying to have renewed for 2016.

Japan Women won the gold last night maybe they will join the US in getting it restarted.

this article is about trying to get waterskiing into the Olympics, I am sure it pertains to wakeboarding as well, I would love to see both sports in the Olympics, i would rather watch that than badmitting...
http://waterski.about.com/library/weekly/aa090100.htm

The only way I see it happening is through Cable as most countries have many more cables and setups than we do.

The Olympic motto is "Citius, Altius, Fortius." These three Latin words mean "Swifter, Higher, Stronger."

Seems like wakeboarding/waterskiing would fit the motto perfectly.

Trying to figure out how this applies to ping pong, badminton, synchronized swimming...

Tank,
You have to be very fast for Table Tennis and Badminton. And actually, Badminton players have shown through to lab tests to have some of the most powerful legs of any sports.

And as for Syncro swimming, not a fan of the sport but they have to be very strong in order to get the best routine. Think of it as rhythmic gymnastics in the water.

i love wakeboarding but here is why it won't ever be an olympic sport. Its because it uses a motor and a motor has a variable to it where as no other sports have that. Thats is why we aren't allowed in the olypics and probably never will be. Even though every rider knows it ain't the motor or the boat its the rider behind it all the boat does is put them higher the rider still has to have the talent to pull the trick

Yeah there are some sports that have questionable appeal and athleticism in the olympics. The shooting sports (gun and bow) and probably the worst abomination of sport, curling are questionable in my mind.

But as much as I like wakeboarding, I am not sure the olympics would be a good fit for it or other motorized sports. Once you open it up to motorized activities there are motorized sports with much broader worldwide appeal such as MX and ralley racing, but where would it end with so many other motorized sports; formula racing, 1/4 milers, quads, cig boats, etc. If you are looking for an X-sport in the olympics, I think skateboarding might have a shot.

I read that the IOC has already ruled no for 2012 but we are trying very hard here in the US.

We have a special website that is linked to all the National Governing Bodies within the USOC check it out. http://waterski.teamusa.org/

You will see many pics of USA Wakeboard Nationals the week of 8/25

It is very important to understand that here in the US the fact that WWA and USA are not working together is really hurting the effort. I dont know the answer to this one but we need some changes.

With windsurfing now being allowed I expect kiteboarding to be in the olympics by 2020 and the same with skateboarding following the sucess of BMX this year.

i read that the main reason slalom skiing was not introduced into the olympics was not b/c it used a motorized vehicle in the competition but b/c the drive could "favor" one athlete over another and would give an unfair advantage to one skier vs another... wakeboarding might IMHO have a better shot seeing as the sport is not nearly as driver dependent... double ups will obviously be out but they could easily have three current model yr boats out there for the rider to choose from w/ their own weighting preferences and do an air or traditional comp then a rail jam type w/ a winch... i agree w/ others here that there is a strong international appeal to this one... granted the US would most likely dominate over-all BUT w/ the tons of international riders i think it would be some good viewing

i and most EVERYONE i know would much rather watch a wakeboarding or skateboarding competition versus badminton finals (which i was honestly pissed when i learned that we did not have brian urlacher and david ortiz representing the US in mens doubles)

Well if everyone is worried about a boat driver or certain boat for skiiers why don't they just let them pick their own boat and have their coach or something drive? Kinda like a coach with a team. That way you choose what you want and the olympics will just check the boat to make sure it's all legit.

snowboarding is not man-powered, either is skiing...unless the athletes are hiking up the hill...pretty sure chair lifts are a part of the sport that you rarely see in olympic coverage...

Cable is the answer. No boat