An interesting document arrived in my inbox this evening. I’ve included an excerpt below. It’s from the Olympic Programme Commission Review of the Olympic Programme and the Recommendations on the Programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008.
Catchy title, isn’t it! It was published in August 2002.
Here’s the bit that might interest you….
3.1.4 Recommendations on the events/athlete quotas of sports currently in the Olympic Programme
While noting that a full review of the event programme and athlete quotas for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad would be conducted following the decisions on sports and disciplines, the Commission developed certain recommendations on the events or athletes quotas in the following sports on the programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad:
Sailing (ISAF) – Reduction in athlete quota and number of events
In comparison with other individual sports, the Commission noted the high quota and number of events in sailing, in comparison to the low broadcast and spectator appeal. In addition, the cost and complexity of the operations of the sailing competition were discussed, with the resulting challenges for general practice and development of the sport.
The Commission therefore recommends the reduction of the athlete quota and number of events in the sport of sailing for the Programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad.
It was noted that the Keelboat class are very expensive boats and demand costly infrastructure for Olympic competition, and for general practice and development in comparison to other classes. Therefore, if the Executive Board recommends the reduction in the number of athletes and events, the Commission believes these reductions could be made through the exclusion of keelboat sailing events from the Programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, which would also reduce the construction and operational costs and complexity.
There, I thought you’d find that interesting…
The ISAF Council members who voted for a keelboat at the expense of a multihull or women’s skiff are playing fast and loose with sailing’s Olympic status. Considering what a large proportion of ISAF’s income stems from sailing’s inclusion in the Olympics, this is a dangerous game to be playing.
Bear in mind that these recommendations were for 2008. Last week’s decision means ISAF has ignored these recommendations for yet another Olympic cycle.
If you want to see this excerpt in its full context, you can find the document here on the Olympic.org website
Posted in ISAF Conference | Tags: Olympics, Weymouth 2012, Olympic Sailing, ISAF Conference, keelboats, IOC
