TORONTO – A lot has changed since the first Olympics some 3,000 years ago. Unmarried women are no longer banned from attending as spectators, we don’t kill 100 cows on the third day of the Games, and today’s athletes compete clothed instead of stark naked (too bad about that last one).
But how has the Olympic programme changed over the years? Why are some sports dropped and others added?
To be in the Summer Olympics, a sport must be governed by an International Federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and needs to meet the following requirements:
– widely practiced (by men in 75 countries on four continents; by women in 40 countries on three continents)
– the World Anti-Doping Code must be applied
– it must not rely on mechanical propulsion such as a motor (though apparently can rely on animal propulsion…such as a horse)
But more detailed evaluation criteria involves eight themes broken into 39 categories with 74 items; a list that is both long and seemingly open to interpretation. Some examples include:
– Value added
– Global spread of excellence
– Youth appeal
– Gender equity
While the first written record of the Games dates back to 776 BC, the 1896 Games in Athens are the oldest that most resemble present-day events. The 1896 programme included 43 events in nine sports: athletics, swimming, fencing, artistic gymnastics, weightlifting, wresting, cycling, shooting and tennis. The first four are the only summer sports that have never been absent.
Oldies but goodies
Athletics and swimming are the most widely followed Olympic sports in the world, with the largest number of events and greatest number of participants from different countries, according to the most recent IOC Olympic Museum data (2007).
Despite swimming being one of the most popular events, some have questioned whether synchronized swimming is a truly athletic sport.
Synchronized swimming officially became an Olympic sport in the 1984 programme, with solo and duet events continuing in 1988 and 1992. How is ‘solo synchronized swimming’ synchronized, you may ask?
“You need to be synchronized with the music to perform,” says Synchro Canada’s manager of communications, Patrick Godbout. “The solo event is way more artistic.”
More artistic, but less Olympian, since in 1996 the solo event was dropped and replaced with a water ballet for eight people (the duet event was briefly removed for the 1996 Games but reinstated in 2000). Godbout believes the solo event was replaced to maximize exposure and focus on more “spectacular” routines, though no official reason was given by the IOC Olympic Studies Centre.
To those who think it doesn’t measure up to the other sports on the programme, Godbout compares it to running for four minutes or swimming for 400 metres without breathing.
Get breaking National news
“It’s really a mental game, and at the same time it’s really hard physically because you need to perform without breathing, and you don’t see that in many sports,” says Godbout. “Track and field you breathe, and it’s pretty intense. Synchronized swimming, it’s the same, but they have 30 to 40 seconds that they can breathe in a three-and-a-half-minute or four-minute routine, so it’s pretty hard…But for sure it looks easy because…when it’s done, you need to smile and make it look like ‘oh that was easy.’”
Synchronized swimming joins rhythmic gymnastics as the only exclusively female sports on the programme.
New in 2012
Another feature for female athletes at London 2012 is the debut of women’s boxing.
Boxing was brought to the ancient Olympic Games by the Greeks in the late 7th century BC, and resurfaced in modern-day Olympics in 1904. It has been present at each edition of the Games since joining the programme-except at Stockholm 1912 due to a Swedish law forbidding its practice.
Boxing Canada’s executive director, Robert Crete, emphasizes Canada is a strong supporter of female boxing.
“The first-ever sanctioned competition between female boxers was held here in Canada,” he says.
At London 2012, the 11 men’s boxing events of recent Games will be replaced by 10 men’s and three women’s events.
The other new event in 2012 is mixed doubles in tennis. While tennis first appeared on the programme in 1896, it withdrew after 1924 upon feeling “slighted at the Paris games” and due to a disagreement with the IOC.
“The ITF was unhappy about how the Olympic Tennis Event was staged in 1924, and put together a proposal for the staging of future events,” says International Tennis Federation (ITF) spokesperson Nick Imison in an email to Globalnews.ca.
The ITF proposal included the desire for at least one of its representatives to be on the IOC, to be able to co-operate in the technical organization of tennis at the Games and for the IOC drop its demand for Wimbledon not to be held in any Olympic year.
“The IOC didn’t accept this proposal so tennis withdrew from the Games,” says Imison.
Tennis later returned to the programme in 1988. The return was independent of the above conditions being met, though the first two have since come into practice.
Events today include men’s and women’s singles and doubles, with mixed doubles added for 2012.
Take me out to the ball game
The 2012 Games may be welcoming women’s boxing and mixed doubles tennis, but they are saying goodbye to baseball and softball following a 2005 IOC vote.
Baseball Canada media manager Adam Morissette says no reason was given for baseball being dropped. In an email to Globalnews.ca, the IOC Olympic Studies Centre also notes that “no explanation is given as to why the sports were not selected.”
“Voters can vote based on their own beliefs and what they feel is the right decision. It has been speculated that baseball is not played enough worldwide and the fact that MLB players don’t participate,” says Morissette in an email to Globalnews.ca.
Baseball was in the Olympic programme from 1992-2008. Since that time, Baseball Canada has lost funding from the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and Own the Podium (OTP) program, which Morissette calls “the biggest blow.”
Currently the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the International Softball Federation are working on a joint bid in the hopes of returning to the 2020 Summer Games, meaning they would be re-instated as one sport instead of two, played on a diamond.
Making a comeback
Two sports that will be reinstated in 2016 are golf and rugby sevens.
“Both golf and rugby are very popular sports with global appeal and a strong ethic,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge in a release.
Golf had been an event in 1900 and 1904, and the last man to win an Olympic gold medal in golf was Canadian George Seymour Lyon.
Golf Canada’s chief sport officer Jeff Thompson believes inclusion in the Olympics will have an impact on the public perception of the sport.
“Going back 25 or 50 years, it was viewed probably as a predominantly male, elitist kind of sport…and I think the sport has evolved since then,” says Thompson. He explains that private golf courses make up only about ten per cent of courses in Canada, and the number of women in golf has increased dramatically.
“For golf it’s very important in ’16 in Brazil that we put on a good show and that all the best players are there,” adds Thompson. “I know that everybody’s pretty sensitive to that.”
What will the future hold?
Other sports that are looking to put on a “good show” to try to get into the 2020 programme are karate, squash, roller sports, wushu, wakeboard, sports climbing and recently removed softball and baseball.
Which sport will earn a spot on the Olympic bill is anyone’s guess. The IOC seems to favour global appeal, top-tier athlete participation and at least a step in the right direction for gender equity. As for which events may be dropped? No explanations from the IOC on past eliminations leave things open to speculation. So tell us what you think.
SOUND OFF: Which sports would you like to see dropped from or added to the Olympic programme? Share your thoughts on with Global News on Facebook.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.