Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

[Janik]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

For anyone who enjoys Modern Pentathalon purely for potential person/horse mismatches (and should emphasis I'm not including Le Lanterne Rouge in that group), I challenge you to read how it affected Mhairi Spence and maintain that position.

[Ray de Galles]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Taekwondo, wrestling, badminton and table tennis are also thought to be fighting for survival from 2020.

[Janik]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

A greater part of Squash argument for inclusion is that Table Tennis and Badminton are already there. For Squash to get in at the expencse of one of these would be no gain.
I'm not sure how seriously to take the suggestion they might be for the chop, though. China is surely too influential to have two of it's most popular sports dropped from the Olympics. If you are going to drop a racquet sport from the Olympics, how does Tennis avoid being on the list?

[Ray de Galles]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

I'd imagine it's down to the publicity and possibly the ticket sales that tennis brings.

[Gangster Octopus]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Wrestling's out.

[ursus arctos]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

I would think that there's a pretty good chance that it will be reinstated by the full IOC.

It's as traditional an Olympic sport as exists, and has decent geographic reach (including not just the US and former Soviet bloc, but being very important in countries like Iran and Turkey that aren't particularly strong).

I don't recall the committee having admitted before that they look at television ratings in determining what sports to include. That's diabolical.

[blameless]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

I would think that there's a pretty good chance that it will be reinstated by the full IOC

Here's hoping. If you start throwing away the sports from the ancient Olympics, the modern version just becomes an overhyped and hideously expensive grand prix meeting.

[Ray de Galles]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Tying up with the recent discussion on Netball on it's own thread, it looks like Hockey was under serious threat today:

The fact hockey was in the final three was a major surprise and should force the sport into a major re-evaluation. Its main problem, insidethegames understands, is that many IOC members see it as a Commonwealth sport with its roots in the British Empire

[ursus arctos]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Hmmmm.

Gold medalists in 2012: Germany (men) Netherlands (women)

Silver medalists: Netherlands (men) Argentina (women)

While it's true that the bronze medalists were Australia and GB, only a third of the women's teams and half of the men's teams at London 2012 were from the Commonwealth.

If the rap on hockey is that it is too imperial, I don't see how netball (or cricket) have much hope, and wonder how rugby sevens made it.

[Ray de Galles]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Yes, ITG make the same point about the medallists. There must be some reason why Hockey was under threat, unless their info on that is awry.

Netball and cricket don't have much hope, surely? France, Italy, Argentina, Japan, Russia and the other "Eastern European" countries probably give rugby a look of wider participation.

[ursus arctos]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Dunno.

Cricket certainly is acting as if they have a chance, but how much of that is Indian posturing is a real question.

You're right about rugby, though. One of the primary reasons why they pushed sevens as the Olympic format was that more "non-traditional" nations (including powers like the US and Russia) are more competitive in sevens than in union.

[Janik]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

If Hockey is seen as 'too commonwealth', I'm more dubious than ever about the chance of Squash getting in. Despite the post a couple of months ago regarding the greater than expected variety of countries with top players.

As for Rugby Sevens, the US and Russian teams can't hold a candle to Kenya. Their most recent result was runners-up in Wellington, just ten days ago. Beat South Africa 21-20 in the Quarters and New Zealand 19-14 in the Semis, losing to England 24-19 in the Final. And that was only a mild shock, they have won an IRB Sevens event before.

Kenya doesn't usually struggle to make the Olympic medal table, mind. Fiji, Samoa and Tonga do, and will believe they have a chance at a medal. Although neither Tonga or Fiji made the Cup Quarters at the Wellington event.

[ursus arctos]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

*pedantry*

Actually, Kenya's most recent result was in the Las Vegas Sevens this past weekend, where they finished third in their pool and were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Bowl.

*end pedantry*

But yeah, they are better than the US or Russia (Kenya are sixth in the current table) (though I question whether they have similar weight in the IOC's calculus).

[Ray de Galles]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Looking at the IRB Sevens Table and World Cup qualifiers for Russia later in the year, it seems strange that Italy and Ireland don't seem to feature at all.

[Flynnie]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Why is 'Too Commonwealth' bad? A lot of countries were once run from London. A lot.

It's fatuous to say that when handball has had one medallist in both the Olympics and Commonwealth Games that wasn't from Central Europe. And South Korea probably bribed the refs to get silver in 1988, judging by their mediocrity in the WCs and Olympics before and since.

[Reed John]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Sevens makes sense because it would be very hard to have a full RU tournament in two weeks.

[Ray de Galles]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Flynnie wrote: Why is 'Too Commonwealth' bad? A lot of countries were once run from London. A lot.

It's fatuous to say that when handball has had one medallist in both the Olympics and Commonwealth Games that wasn't from Central Europe. And South Korea probably bribed the refs to get silver in 1988, judging by their mediocrity in the WCs and Olympics before and since.

Do you mean "handball" or something else?

[Janik]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

No, I think he means Handball. But with the boundaries of central Europe strained slightly to include France and Scandinavia. It doesn't feel a particularly worldwide sport.

[Reed John]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

BeIn showed the Handball World Cup and I watched a bit. I believe Spain won.

But during the broadcast of one of the semis, the commentators mentioned that the game was struggling to develop outside of Europe.

Of course, the Winter Olympics is mostly Eurocentric, but that's kind of the nature of that event. The summer Olympics are supposed to be global.

[ursus arctos]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

It appears that this particular subcommittee is dominated by non-Anglo Western Europeans, which explains a lot about which sports have been protected and which have been targeted. It includes Sanaranch Jr., who turns out to be the head of the modern pentathlon federation.

[Reed John]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Precisely. It's a stich-up. I wouldn't be shocked if their were bribes.

[ad hoc]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Hang on, handball is in the Commonwealth Games? Which commonwealth nations play?

Or was the point that there are no medallists in handball from anywhere?

[Flynnie]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

I got excited and typed Commonwealth Games when I meant World Championships. Forget it, he's rolling.

It's basically a continental game. No country from outside the continent (I'll include Russia in that) has ever medalled in a men's World Championship and South Korea is the only non-European country to medal in a men's Olympic competition. Which, given they've never been beyond the quarterfinals in any other Olympics or finished above 8th in a World Championship, has to be considered a gigantic fluke.

[Ray de Galles]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Ah, it was handball in the Commonwealths that threw me. Though I believe it may be on the list of approved sports but has never featured.

[Satchmo Distel]

Wiff Waff for the Riff Raff?

Are weightlifting and archery genuinely global? I'm not sure how you measure the concept to be honest. It's not a simple binary of global v non-global so where do you draw the line.

I'm happier with the formula that an Olympic gold should be the highest achievement possible in your sport. I think the loss of that principle (probably at Barcelona, when tennis and basketball came in) was the near-fatal blow that this stupid wrestling decision has just compounded.