D-Day for Sports Vote; Shortlist for Youth Olympics

(ATR) One summer Olympic sport and at least one bid for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games will be left devastated by key decisions of the IOC Executive Board today and Wednesday.

The announcement on the sport comes Tuesday, with modern pentathlon and wrestling said to be among a small group of sports most in danger of being cut from the 2020 Games.

Taekwondo has also been mentioned. But two IOC sources tell Around the Ringsthe sport’s future looks secure, with the London 2012 Olympics enhancing its reputation.

IOC sports director Christophe Dubi will announce the EB's decision – and explain the rationale behind the vote – at a press conference scheduled for the Lausanne Palace Hotel at noon.

The IOC is also shortlisting cities for the 2018 YOG this week.

IOC and South American sources have told ATR that Guadalajara is most at risk from the chop. Financial problems still linger from the Mexican city’s staging of the 2011 Pan American Games.

Rotterdam also faces a nervous wait after its struggle to deliver government guarantees; they were only submitted last month.

But Claudia Bokel, who led the IOC’s working group for the 3rd summer YOG, has roots in the Netherlands and provides a boost for the Dutch bid in her EB role.

Buenos Aires, Glasgow and Medellin are the other candidates.

EB members will also discuss the fallout from the Lance Armstrong doping revelations and cycling’s future.

Armstrong is banned for life by the International Cycling Union and was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles as well as his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The UCI is seeking the IOC’s support for its "truth and reconciliation" process amid a conflict with the World Anti-Doping Agency over how this would operate.

Also on this week's agenda are reports from various IOC commissions and updates from the organizing committees for upcoming Olympics in Sochi, Rio de Janeiro and PyeongChang. EB members will also hear about the latest on preparations for the Nanjing 2014 YOG.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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