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Olympic games count steady at 28
None of the 28 sports on the Summer Olympic program are likely to be
cut Friday by International Olympic Committee members, but baseball
still should be on alert and some change still could be in the works.
"My guess is the 28 stay, and we figure out a better way to bring in new
sports," said the USA's Jim Easton, an IOC vice president. "We can do
that within the guidelines by maybe reducing a few events."
The IOC executive board will discuss that option this fall.
Two years ago, wanting to keep the Games a manageable size for smaller
cities and less wealthy nations to host, the IOC capped the Summer
Olympic program at the current 28 sports, 301 events and 10,500
athletes. It also instituted a regular review of the program, to follow
each Games.
Soon after the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the IOC sent a questionnaire to
the governing bodies of the summer sports asking for information about
such things as media coverage and ticket sales. The IOC compiled the
responses in a report that was released last month in advance of a
sport-by-sport vote here.
A simple majority of the more than 100 IOC members would eliminate a
sport and leave it without the funding and exposure the Olympics
provides. If any sports were cut, it would take a two-thirds vote to add
a new sport from a list of five eligible: golf, karate, rugby, roller
sports and squash.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see it remain status quo," Australian IOC
member Kevan Gosper said. "Quite a number of the sports who may have
been not so strong have worked very hard to raise their profile, change
their judging, adjust their rules, adjust their program."
At the time the IOC decided on the review process, three sports —
baseball, softball and modern pentathlon — were on the chopping block.
The sports galvanized enough support to sidestep a vote then.
But baseball especially remains in the crosshairs. IOC members are
dismayed that Major League Baseball has not agreed to a midseason break
to allow top players to participate in the Olympics.
"Any sport that's not able to deliver the best athletes would be in my
view the sports that would be under closest scrutiny," Gosper said.
Soccer also falls short, restricting men's rosters to players under age
23 with three over-age exceptions. Soccer, though, has worldwide
popularity while baseball's reach doesn't extend far beyond the USA,
Latin America and parts of Asia.
The IOC also is watching closely baseball's response to doping issues.
"Still," German IOC member Thomas Bach says, "I'm not expecting any kind
of revolution."
Instead, change to the Summer Olympic program likely will be more
piecemeal.
The IOC is eager to keep the mix interesting to a younger, broader
audience, making the decision by cycling's international body last month
to replace the men's and women's sprint time trials in track cycling
with BMX a possible blueprint.
Other sports could be asked to trim events or even entire disciplines to
make room for additions. The synchronized team event in swimming and the
Greco-Roman discipline in wrestling are among those that have been up
for discussion before.
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