LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Organizers of conventional snow and ice sports activities mentioned Wednesday they don’t want occasions from summer time federations added to their Winter Olympics program.
Cyclocross and cross-country working — even indoors sports activities — have been steered as additions to the Winter Video games for the 2030 Olympics hosted within the French Alps and Good.
These can be unwelcome “piecemeal proposals,” the Winter Olympic Federations group of governing our bodies mentioned in an announcement.
“The Winter Olympic Federations are agency in our perception that such an method would dilute the model, heritage, and identification that make the Olympic Winter Video games distinctive — a celebration of sports activities practiced on snow and ice, with distinct tradition, athletes, and fields of play,” mentioned the group of sports activities together with snowboarding, skating, biathlon, curling, luge, bobsled and skeleton.
A assessment of the Winter Video games program and different points was began by Worldwide Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry after she formally took workplace in June.
The winter program with simply 116 medal occasions has room to increase in contrast with the squeezed Summer season Video games which had 329 in Paris final yr.
Including cyclocross and cross-country working, which generally are raced on mud, would imply amending the IOC’s Olympic Constitution guidelines which require Winter Video games sports activities to be performed on snow and ice.
“Innovation ought to concentrate on evolving current winter sports activities to draw broader participation and audiences whereas enhancing the enchantment of the Olympic Winter Video games,” mentioned Ivo Ferriani, who represents winter sports activities on the IOC government board as president of the bobsled and skeleton federation.
Ferriani famous the addition of ski mountaineering, or skimo, which makes its Olympic debut in February on the Milan Cortina Winter Video games.
