Interesting times . . . The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is about to elect a new president who will no doubt arrive on a cloud of optimistic expansion.
As the commercial world continues to blur the boundaries between competitive sport and entertainment in a social media world that invents personalities and events on a regular basis. Major sports are facing organisational upheaval .
The IOC has indicated their willingness to integrate new sports into the Games, especially if they come with a new, young audience, as traditional corporate media struggles to maintain their appeal in the face of more nimble social media formats.
Olympic sports come and go, and just now the pace of change is accelerating with a combination of sport equipment development, changing audience viewing habits and increased commercialisation as the last remnants of amateurism are swept away.
The continuing reconfiguration of major sport disciplines that have formed the Olympic Games since its revival in London 1948 is highlighted by the imminent launch of new forms of athletic competition.
About to launch are RunGP, fronted by GBR Olympian Mo Farah, part of healthcare entrepreneur Marcel Muenster’s, Global Running League (GRL). And Michael Johnson’s sprint-focused Grand Slam Track (GST) events.
GRL’s/RunGP inaugural event will take place at the Qatar Grand Prix, 9 – 10 May. And involves a team-based format with professional athletes, with the main event a team relay, with four squads competing over seven 1km laps.
Michael Johnson’s sprint-focused Grand Slam Track (GST) is a global professional track league, opening with four annual Slams taking place between April and June, with a chance to win $400,000 in total prize money over the course of a season.
The first event is in Kingston, Jamaica 4 – 6 April, followed by events in Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
World Sailing has not seen such major challenges to its Olympic event footprint, the very successful SailGP League operating outside of the Olympic classes with a professional total package format.
While sailing has remained amateur from club through national/international competition, with only the ten dedicated Olympic classes providing a professional format (via the RYA in the UK) for the national team.
The sport’s international governing body, World Sailing, heavily dependent financially on Olympic participation, could find itself sidelined by new competitions which attract easy participation, with less formal infrastructure, and competitors with little time for the dead-hand of multi-committee organisations, protecting outdated systems and disciplines.
Sailing, we are talking Olympic participation here, ignores the signs at its peril. Already considered an elitist, rich, white sport, sailing is especially vulnerable to this changing landscape.
Surfing, skateboarding, and sports climbing has boomed plus traditional disciplines such as cycling and skiing have broadened their participation and audience numbers with new breakout variations from their traditional formats.
Sailing has seen a similar split within the sport, with the introduction of foiling boards with innovative propulsion methods involving Kites and now handheld Wing foils.
To maintain their position as an Olympic category in Tokyo 2020, Sailing integrated four foiling board events, two with kite propulsion.
And while other sports have managed to add new variants while maintaining their traditional disciplines, sailing has seen the demise of mainstream dinghy rigs in the Olympics as beach-based board events profligate.
And this trend is likely to continue with pressure to include Wing foil board events within its present ten event limit.
World Sailing could find itself sidelined by the new competitions which attract easy participation, with less formal infrastructure, and competitors with little time for the dead-hand of multi-committee organisations, protecting outdated systems and disciplines.
The latest upgrade example is in Rowing which has expanded its Olympic footprint, with the Rowing Coastal and Beach Sprint formats.
The rise of this sporting discipline in recent years led the International Olympic Committee to decide to include it in the programme of the Los Angeles 2028 Games, where it will make its Olympic debut.
It will be the first time rowing is presented in two different formats, with medals in beach sprint.
A format split that Sailing missed out on, if they even considered allowing such a split in their overall control.
