Where in London..

[Red Adder]

If O was an Olympic sport where do you think the O event would have been held ?

[Only 1 venue allowed though style of event - Classic/Midle/Urban/Sprint - is up to you.]

I think it needs to be with 100km radius of the Giant Bedspring (sorry Scotland) otherwise anything is permissble.

I'd be boring and go for a classic or middle distance in Epping (well its edges drop in to the Lea Valley) with the RE building a couple of bridges over the Spine road (A104).

[andy]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13317

[Spookster]

I'd be boring and go for a classic or middle distance in Epping.

Because it's boring to TV/spectate, that won't be the format for the Olympics.

More likely Sprint, in which case Greenwich Park looked good, using the same facilities as the Eventing and Pentathlon.

Even more likely is that Ski-O will get into the Olympics before Foot-O. And in that case, it won't be in London.

[Jayne]

Lots of options for Sprint or Park. Sprint in the Barbican would be pretty good.

[andypat]

No way - that'd be far too complicated for the Europeans!

[Kitch]

What exactly is spectator friendly about sailing ?
Who understands what is going on other than sailors ?
why is this any different to orienteering ?
why does orienteering have to bastardise itself ?

[Becks]

That thought about sailing was mine too.

One of the Americans on AP said something like "why do you want O' in the Olympics?" Just so it can be the sport that everyone else says doesn't belong there?"

I think she has a point. (I still like the idea of trying an elimination long race though).

[Gnitworp]

why does orienteering have to bastardise itself ?

Yes, I thought the Olympics were supposed to be a supreme test of the best in the best of possible 'arenas'

[King Penguin]

Talented though the participants undoubtedly are, I struggle with the concept of regarding as a sport anything which owes more to artistic interpretation and judges scoring than to any factual measure of performance. Boxing (though I am personally not keen on it) I can understand, as there is at least a quantifyable basis on which to score (have you landed a punch on torso / head), but I really struggle with the justification for inclusion of the likes of Rhythmic Gymnastics and even Diving.

[Gnitworp]

A bit like having playing a musical instrument or singing included? Gymnastics of the fingers or vocal chords?

[andy]

That thought about sailing was mine too.

One of the Americans on AP said something like "why do you want O' in the Olympics?" Just so it can be the sport that everyone else says doesn't belong there?"

I think she has a point. (I still like the idea of trying an elimination long race though).

Agree with this, I'm not all that fussed it's not in the olympics. It'd probably be a total pain in the bum to organise too (look at what's happening to Badminton after their farce!) with so much going on that we'd have to adhere to.

[Kitch]

Its not that I don't think sailing should be there
its that orienteering thinks it has to jump through hoops and change its identity to be spectator friendly, easily understandable and provide quickfire results.
Sailing provides none of these, yet is an olympic sport.

Sailing in the olympics is, however, a representation of elements of a sport in which large numbers of wealthy people like to participate ( and plenty of not so wealthy)

So, what comes in in Rio ?
Golf
Same story

Rugby, mainstream, with, in the UK, the public school link.

History and politics get sports into the Olympics and not much else.
So messing with O is pointless,
thats what gets my goat

whether or not it would be a good thing is a different debate.

[EddieH]

I agree absolutely Kitch. And can anyone explain how forcing the Oldies to run their world champs with conventional formats in the Masters Games, a commercial non Olympic "come and try it" sort of event is going to increase the likelihood of getting O into the Olympics?

[denbydale]

I agree absolutely Kitch. And can anyone explain how forcing the Oldies to run their world champs with conventional formats in the Masters Games, a commercial non Olympic "come and try it" sort of event is going to increase the likelihood of getting O into the Olympics?

[SeanC]

What is the Olympic Program?

The "Olympic Program" is the Program of sports, disciplines and events decided by the IOC for the Games of the Olympiad and the Olympic Winter Games. The Games of the Olympiad must contain at least fifteen Olympic sports. No such minimum exists for the Olympic Winter Games, which are reserved for sports practiced on snow or ice.


Who decides?

The admission or exclusion of a sport falls within the competence of the IOC Session. A decision to include or exclude a discipline or event falls within the competence of the IOC Executive Board.


Basic criteria for events

To be included in the Program for the Olympic Games, an Olympic sport or discipline must fulfill the following criteria: for the Games of the Olympiad, only sports/disciplines widely practiced by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents, and by women in at least 40 countries and on three continents may be included; for the Olympic Winter Games, only sports/disciplines widely practiced in at least 25 countries and on three continents may be included.

An event, being a competition in an Olympic sport or in one of its disciplines and resulting in a ranking, gives rise to the award of medals and diplomas. To be included in the Program, an event must, first and foremost, enjoy a recognized position internationally in both numerical and geographical terms and have featured at least twice in world or continental championships.

Sports, disciplines or events in which performance depends essentially on mechanical propulsion are not acceptable.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_decides_w ... z246R1kbZb

What wikianswers seem to be saying is that if a sport is big and popular it will get into the olympics, so long as it's the competitor doing the work not a machine.

I'm not sure if I agree with all of the reasons Kitch states, but it's probably right that orienteering isn't going to be in the olympics any time soon. Is it "widely practised" in 75 countries for example?

So another way of looking at this would be "how do we make Orienteering a truly global sport?" Then it would be knocking harder at the door than at present and wouldn't be under so much pressure to offer a completely different TV/specator version just for the olympics? Perhaps that means offering more accessible orienteering - TD3 orienteering, urban orienteering etc that will work in more countries, and will work for those that don't want to invest a lot of time learning the navigation techniques? That will upset the purists too.

I've also found out that Karate was on the shortlist to be included in the 2016 games but didn't make it. Perhaps it shows how far orienteering has to go since I'm sure Karate is much more popular, and of course much easier to televise. Or maybe they were worried that someone would give it the chop after Rio.

I'll get my coat.