russ13 said:
So the IRB joins the IOC committee recognize sports. So What.
Union has not been to the Olympics since 1924. RU is not an Olympic sport & was throughly rejected at the lat vote they had by over 100 votes.
RU has no chance of getting into the Olympics again-ever.
Not that I want to go another round on this, you have your opinion, I have mine. However, you keep refering to the IOC having voted on rugby.
In searching the IOC website and various news outlet, I can't find any up or down vote on any of the recently proposed sports and events (can you enlighten me). All that I find is that the Programme Commision's for additions was postponed to a future General Session, while the IOC focusses on the Commission's recommendations for the elimination of current sports (Baseball, Softball and Modern Pentathlon) and events (Synch Swimming - Team Event, Equestrian - 3 Day Event, Athletics - Racewalking, etc). These cuts will be much more political and difficult than adding new events.
Since Sydney, the IOC's top priority has been curbing the growth of the Games. Their concern is that given the current number of athletes, support requirements, media members, etc, the Games have limited the possibilty of all but the largest cities in rich nations of hosting the Games. In the past 30 years, the winter games have moved from mountain resorts (Innsbruck, Lake Placid, Albertville) to major mountain cities (Calgary, Salt Lake, Turin and Vancouver). A similar trend is seen with the summer games. There are several former host cities that would no longer be capable of pulling off the games alone in their current format, and the hopes of African and Asian cities (other than Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul) is near non-existant.
Once the cuts are made, RU sevens will be added. I say this based on the recommendations of the Programme Commission, and the statements of IOC leadership, particularly Pres Jacques Rogges.
