Sport Climbing Stresses "Vertical Dimension" in 2020 Olympics Bid

(ATR) Despite a spot on the IOC shortlist for Olympics inclusion, President Marco Scolaris tells Around the Rings it’s "really difficult to say" what the International Federation of Sport Climbing is doing differently.

"Everything is in line with our development plan," says the Italian, insisting the bid for 2020 "boosted our ambition" but does not change the IFSC’s priorities.

Climbing, he says, is fully aware of its weaknesses and would be addressing them with or without a shot at the Games.

"We’ve worked particularly on the quality of our world championships," he tells ATR, "and I’m glad to say that I think we succeeded in offering to our athletes first and then to the world a very good event" this year.

More than 16,000 spectators stopped by the Palais de Bercy in Paris from Sept. 12 to 16, including an IOC inspection team led by Program Commission member Andrew Ryan.

"I believe they were not authorized to say much, but we got the feeling they had fun," says Scolaris.

"Actually, everybody did. It’s Paris!"

Climbing is among the last of the seven shortlisted sports to welcome the IOC ahead of presentations to the Program Commission scheduled for Dec. 19 and 20 in Lausanne.

The president says he is yet to prepare the presentation but will be sure to focus on the same message the IFSC has had since its founding in 2007.

"Climbing is one spontaneous basic human movement, and we are able to do this before being able to walk," he tells ATR.

"We give the possibility to the athletes to express skill in the vertical dimension. Climbing is something unique, and it’s not something that looks the same or even close to other sports or disciplines already in the Games."

Another potential selling point for the IOC, he admits, he just realized in the past month.

"Climbing is considered an outdoor sport," he says, "and the outdoor sports today are quite popular."

What exactly the IFSC will propose to the Program Commission remains unclear.

Scolaris says he had to submit a discipline before the London Olympics – lead climbing with 30 men and 30 women is the plan – but an IFSC member mentioned during the Games perhaps pitching the same numbers of athletes but a longer event.

"Alternative proposals might fit the Olympic schedule of events and eventually extend the use of some facilities," he tells ATR, "but for the time being we stick to the first option. That has been recognized as the most logical by the large majority of our stakeholders."

In the meantime, he says, the IFSC will continue its attempts to improve communications and expand exposure of the sport.

The world championships were webcast on YouTube, and a "Sport Climbing 2020" page on Facebook has gathered more than 10,000 likes in the past four months.

Still, it’s likely there will be room for just one new sport on the program of the 2020 Games.

Cable wakeboard, karate, roller sports, squash, wushu and a joint bid by baseball/softball are the other six contenders facing a decision of the IOC Executive Board in May 2013.

"Of course, we would be proud and happy if our sport goes into the Olympics," says Scolaris, but the feeling he enjoyed in Paris of being a part of the Olympic Family is something he’ll never forget.

Reported by Matthew Grayson

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