(ATR) The International Federation for Roller Sports says it is “shocked” by moves to add skateboard to the 2012 Olympics without any consultation. While the International Cycling Union is taking steps to adopt skateboard as a discipline, the roller sports federation tells Around the Rings that the action sport is one of its disciplines.
“It is absolutely improper to consider skateboarding a cycling discipline. Skateboarding is a "roller sport" and is under the FIRS umbrella,” asserts the federation in a statement.
The possibility of a marriage between cycling and skateboard was raised by the IOC two years ago, says UCI President Pat McQuaid. He says the discussions involved using the velodrome to be built for the 2012 Games as a venue for other events with youth appeal, such as freestyle BMX and skateboard.
“The IOC approached us and said would we consider doing that,” McQuaid says. Since then, he says UCI has talked to a number of organizations involved with skateboard, settling on the International Skateboard Federation to work with on moving forward.
Spokeswoman Giselle Davies says the IOC has no formal proposal from UCI at this time and is not involved in the question of the proper federation to represent skateboarding.
“No process is being changed,” she says regarding the steps that will still need to be taken should the UCI press forward with a proposal for skateboard in London.
If considered by the IOC as a discipline, skateboard could be added to the London program as late as 2009, subject to Executive Board approval. If it was to be considered a sport on its own, under IOC rules skateboarding would need to have been admitted to the London program two years ago.
At that time, roller sports was one of five new sports proposed for London, all of them rejected. The proposal from FIRS called for speed skating, not skateboard.
“Speed skating is a very youthful sport and its appeal is wider than skateboarding's,” says FIRS about why it chose one over the other.
“In formulating our proposal for the Olympics we considered that speed skating is a sport practiced by thousands of women and men throughout the world and that it can be practiced on roads and on tracks as well, so we thought it could be the right choice for the Olympic program.”
The roller sports federation says it will try again to join the Olympic program when the next program review occurs in 2009. FIRS says it will stick with the proposal for speed skating, but says “we are also consideringThe idea of competing in the Olympics is already being lampooned by skateboarders, as this photo from realskate.com shows.inserting other disciplines”.
“This is the reason why we are looking for a closer dialogue with the IOC,” says FIRS.
OpEd: Skateboard Reaction
The skateboarding world remains wary of the idea of the sport joining the Olympics, based on comments submitted to Around the Rings in recent days.
Clarkie, the editor of realskate.com says adding skateboard to the Olympics will harm the sport.
“We feel that Olympic involvement will change the face of skateboarding and its individuality and freedoms forever. We feel it would not in any way support skateboarders or skateparks. We do not wish to be part of it and will not support the Olympics if skateboarding is added as an Olympic sport,” says Clarkie in a letter to Around the Rings.
A petition at realskate.com calls for the IOC to reject skateboard. Nearly 900 people had signed the petition earlier this week.
Also expressing distrust for Olympic skateboarding is Michael Brooke, publisher of the Canadian magazine Concrete Wave.
“I don't speak for skateboarding, I just speak as a skater and I am not happy with what is taking place,” says Brooke.
“So who will benefit from skateboarding being at the Olympics? My sense is that large media corporations like NBC and consumer products companies looking for that all important 11-24 demographic will definitely seek to get
skateboarding approved. Olympic officials looking for a way to bring in a younger demographic and resonate some sort of "hipness" will be all over this initiative,” Brooke writes.
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