Interesting comments from everyone, and I am very much in tune with Dawn in lamenting the removal of women’s match racing from the Olympics – if it was my call I’d have added men’s in too! The decision over Kite V Windsurf is a bitter blow for the windsurfing industry after almost 30 years as an Olympic discipline, and has the possibility of destroying businesses and careers. There is a campaign under way to have this ISAF decision reversed which is growing in momentum. Even the Kiteboarders were astonished that their lobby to become an Olympic discipline succeeded in time to be implemented ahead of Brazil, as there are many aspects of integrating it that are still to be determined, and it was anticipated it may first be included in 2020. It will be interesting to see if the decision is latterly overturned.
Kiteboarding has exploded in popularity in recent years with an 'extreme' and exciting image, and with the likes of Richard Branson publicly advocating the sport and becoming a leading ambassador for it, however, windsurfing's enduring popularity, comparative safety and relative ease of learning for all ages compared to kiteboarding, has seen its participation levels continue over many years. Combined with its status as an Olympic discipline, this enabled NGB's to invest in training programmes and build an expertise, creating a very high level of competition that feeds right back to the grass roots in most developed countries, supporting millions of people globally.
Both sports can be amazingly exciting - I have directed many hours of both of them over the years, but as Vince says earlier, one issue with a tight shot of kites is that all you see is a person magically standing on a board holding 2 bits of rope! Sure surfers have the same kind of shot, but they have a wave as a background - whereas in slalom kiting, the shots are limited. Freestyle is far more exciting from my perspective as Alexandre says.
There have been rumblings about the future of sailing in the Olympics generally for a long time now as Ed states in his opening comments. It's not easy to televise and make both understandable and entertaining, (though this year's Olympic coverage may prove to be the best yet), is affected by the prevailing weather conditions (as are other Olympic sports), but is considered hard to 'pin' into a stadium environment where the public can see clearly what is going on and understand the rules. Weymouth this year has evidently sold most of the tickets for all events, and specially built grandstands will be full. The organisers are going to great lengths to make this an enjoyable experience for fans (and Britain is holding its breath for more Gold), so it will be interesting to see if Rob Andrews and his team there set a new benchmark in appreciation for what is possible, and potentially alter the perceptions of sailing in the Olympics. No pressure there then!
One could ask, (I don't know but I am sure will be put right!), how many archers compete in the world, or indeed professionally, compared to a sport as large and commercial as sailing, if comparisons are asked for? Is it exciting to watch? Is it considered elitist? What about shooting - is there a more elitist sport with its image of tweeds and flat caps? Is it exciting and entertaining to watch, and are there millions of participants every weekend worldwide?
Sailing does suffer image problems, but losing all those medal opportunities from the Games and the infrastructure behind it is quite a step for the IOC. Not impossible, especially in the face of potentially diminishing budgets in future years, but there would be outrage globally if sailing were removed, let alone windsurfing as we have seen. On their website the IOC states: ‘To make it onto the Olympic programme, a sport first has to be recognised: it must be administered by an International Federation which ensures that the sport's activities follow the Olympic Charter. If it is widely practised around the world and meets a number of criteria established by the IOC session, a recognised sport may be added to the Olympic programme on the recommendation of the IOC's Olympic Programme Commission’. Further, there is a long list of additional criteria that is then considered, and sailing certainly ticks all of them pretty well, as does windsurfing, but many people are finding it hard to say the same about Kiteboarding.
According to some insiders involved at ISAF, there was confusion about which nation would vote for which discipline, and some people appear to have changed their mind at the last moment, tipping the balance by a small majority to kites. The question being asked now is, was this a personal decision, or was it made for the best interest of that nation’s sporting interests? The former is widely suspected, and the pressure, and that lobby to have this overturned next November at the next ISAF session is mounting steadily.
Interesting times indeed, and almost 3 week’s worth of medals up for grabs in between then and now....
