Sad news for multihull sailors today as Jaques Rogge, president of the IOC, said the Tornado catamaran would not be given a reprieve.
The Games was already running at capacity, he said. Of course, one more class (and no more competitors) in Weymouth wouldn’t have really changed anything. But I wonder if Rogge’s former life as a Finn Olympic sailor works against his old sport on occasions like this. With his strong anti-drugs campaign and his general drive to clean up the old smell of corruption that clouded the IOC for so many years, maybe he couldn’t be seen to be doing an old favour to his old sport.
A big, big shame. No doubt ISAF have tried their best in the background, but in the end, to no avail. The rumours had been good in recent weeks, that the cat would get back in, but it seems those rumours were off target.
We asked Carolijn Brouwer, Tornado President, about these issues some time back on SailJuice.com. You can read that interview here: http://www.sailjuice.com/articles/carolijn-brouwer-11th-medal
The best thing that could come out of this is for ISAF to ask itself how it allowed this mess to happen in the first place. If it is honest with itself it will agree with what SailJuice has been saying for the past two years, that having 40 decision-makers on ISAF Council is no way at all to make a decision. If ISAF President Goran Petersson wants to make real and lasting change to sailing, and leave a legacy that he can be proud of, then it will be to sweep aside the current [so-called] decision-making structure and build a modern organisation that is capable of reaching the right decision, swiftly and effectively.
As it patently failed to do on this occasion. To the detriment of multihull sailing around the world.
Here’s the official press release from ISAF in full:
IOC Confirms 10 Sailing Events For London 2012 Olympic Games [that's nice way of putting it! Ed.]
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today confirmed there will be 10 sailing events at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The Executive Board of the IOC confirmed the line up of events and disciplines for the 26 sports on the Programme for the London 2012 Olympic Games at their meeting in Berlin, Germany today. The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) had made a request to keep the number of sailing events at 11, maintaining the Open Multihull event.
The IOC President Jacques Rogge wrote today to ISAF: “Whilst the IOC Executive Board fully recognises the value that Sailing brings to the Olympic Games, it decided to maintain its decision of 2005 regarding the overall quota of sailors and medals. As a consequence, Tornado Multihull shall not be on the programme of the Games of the XXXth Olympiad in London.
The decision to reduce the number of sailing events at the 2012 Games from 11 to 10 was previously made by the IOC Executive Board in 2005, based on the recommendation from the IOC Olympic Programme Commission. ISAF was one of 17 International Sports Federations who submitted a request to modify their events at the London 2012 Olympic Games. These requests were analysed by the IOC Olympic Programme Commission, which submitted its finding to the Executive Board.
At a press conference following today’s Executive Board meeting, the IOC President said the main reason for not granting requests for additional events received by sports was because the Games has reached maximum capacity, “Most of the applications have been politely declined because all of the applications combined resulted in a potential accumulation of 720 athletes to the already 10,500 of Games. So we kindly said to the Federations, sorry but we cannot accommodate your request,” Rogge said.
The IOC President also confirmed ISAF President Göran Petersson and HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, a member of the ISAF Events Committee, are amongst six persons to be nominated by the Executive Board as IOC Members. The recommendation of the Executive Board will be made to the current IOC Members who will vote on it at the next IOC Session to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark this October.
ISAF Secretary General Jerome Pels said: “Of course we’re disappointed that our request to keep the 11th medal has not been accepted but we understand and respect the IOC’s decision. We’re sad to see the Multihull off the Olympic Programme for London 2012, but for 2016 Games there will be a new discussion on the events and equipment within ISAF with a possibility of a come back of the Multihull.
“We now look forward with great anticipation to the London 2012 Olympic Games. ISAF is working closely with the IOC and the London Organisers to ensure the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition builds on the successes achieved at Qingdao in 2008.”
The 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition will feature 380 athletes competing across the following 10 events, selected by the Council of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) in November 2007:
Men’s One Person Dinghy – Laser
Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy – Finn
Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Men’s Two Person Dinghy High Performance – 49er
Men’s Windsurfer – RS:X
Men’s Keelboat – Star
Women’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial
Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Women’s Keelboat Match Racing – Elliott 6m
Women’s Windsurfer – RS:X
The IOC Executive Board is the body responsible for deciding on events and disciplines at the Olympic Games. It consists of the IOC President, four Vice-Presidents and ten other members, elected at the IOC Session. The IOC Session, which brings together all IOC Members, remains responsible for the composition of sports on the Olympic programme.
QUESTION: WHERE NOW FOR HIGH-LEVEL MULTIHULL SAILING?
