Nice end of year gifts. Three disciplines invited to the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Games in the additional sports camp should, barring an improbable scenario, integrate the official program of the Los Angeles 2028 Games. But, a less encouraging prospect, three international federations are threatened with leaving the family Olympic at the same time.
Meeting for the last time of the year in virtual mode, the IOC Executive Board worked on Thursday December 9 on the still very feared question of the Summer Games program. The result of his work made three people happy. But it plunged three others into doubt and anguish.
In the winning camp, surfing, climbing and skateboarding. Invited for the first time to the Tokyo Games as additional sports, they were extended for Paris 2024 in the same category. An enviable but very uncertain status. Subject to validation by the 139th session of the IOC, which is due to meet on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Games, surfing, climbing and skateboarding will become official sports at the Los Angeles Games in 2028. They will be added to the list of 28 sports proposed for the Summer Games in California.
The reason can be summed up in one word: youth. The IOC makes no secret of it: the three newcomers bring to the Olympic event a touch of innovation and a rejuvenation that the Games badly need. They also have the advantage of having “ deep roots in California“. Surfing, in particular, was elevated to the rank of individual sport of the State, a status which a priori assured it of remaining in place in Los Angeles in 2028.
The beaten ones now. By a game of musical chairs, there are also three: boxing, weightlifting and modern pentathlon. The IOC Executive Board excluded them from the list of 28 sports to be proposed at the session next February in Beijing. But, important clarification, they are not permanently wiped off the map. Their presence is only subject to conditions.
Without hesitation, the fate of the modern pentathlon appears to be the least hopeless. Its international federation, the UIPM, created the event last month by deciding to remove horse riding from the list of its five disciplines. The IOC was an attentive spectator of the controversy arising from this palace revolution.
Thursday, December 9, its executive board placed the modern pentathlon on hold for the LA 2028 Games. The UIPM must finalize its proposal to replace the equestrian and overall competition format and provide evidence of a significant reduction in costs and complexity as well as improvement in the areas of safety, accessibility, universality and appeal for young people and the general public“, explains the IOC. The ball is now in the UIPM’s court. Its leaders will have to pull out of their hat a fifth sport that meets the expectations of the IOC. Not easy. But the future of the discipline depends on it.
Boxing seems much worse off. In his case, it is not a question of reviewing his appearance, but of putting an end to a past that the IOC would like to see erased once and for all. The Olympic body explains it: “ AIBA must demonstrate that it has successfully addressed current concerns regarding its governance, financial transparency, sustainability and the integrity of its arbitration and judging processes"
The new president of AIBA, Russian Umar Kremlev, is increasing his announcements (and trips) in the hope of giving his organization a more presentable image. But judging by the latest exchanges between the two parties, the IOC is not yet convinced.
Finally, there remains the case of weightlifting. The other bad student of the Olympic movement seemed less threatened than boxing. Unlike the AIBA, its international body, the IWF, was not suspended by the IOC. But the threat remains just as serious, if not more so.
The IOC explained this on Thursday December 9: “ The IWF and its future leaders must demonstrate their transition to compliance and effective culture change. In addition, the international federation must successfully tackle the long-standing problem of doping in its sport and guarantee the integrity, strength and complete independence of its anti-doping program. »
Unlike the AIBA, the IWF has still not been able to organize elections and have an elected president. Faced with the threat posed by the IOC, it will have to tackle it as quickly as possible, at the risk of disappearing from the Olympic radars.
Modern pentathlon, boxing and weightlifting will be able to include the list of sports in the program of the Los Angeles Games during the IOC session in 2023, subject to having presented to the executive board of the body a copy without erasures.
As for additional sports, their concept has not been abandoned. The organizing committee for the LA 2028 Games retains the possibility of proposing it to the IOC. But remaining within the quota of 10.500 athletes. And without deviating from the priority of reducing the costs and complexity of hosting the Games.
