How Are Sports Chosen for the Olympics?
Even tug-of-war once held its own as a respected Olympic sport.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.The set is essentially a refined overhand pass. With elbows out, the hands should be raised to a position above the head. Palms should be out with fingers spread and thumbs down. The arms should extend to meet the ball with the pads of the fingers. The ball is directed upward and toward a spot where the hitter can make an aggressive play on it.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.To execute a forearm pass, a player assumes the basic defensive position (knees bent, feet spread, one foot slightly in front of the other). The outstretched arms are brought together with thumbs together and rotated downward. The ball is met by the forearms with a shoveling motion of the arms. The pass should be made with a flowing, coordinated motion of the legs, body, and arms.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Media Editor: Lauren Sims
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzOverview of wrestling, including a discussion of the freestyle and Greco-Roman styles.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; thumbnail © kovop58/Shutterstock.comThe first Olympic Games consisted of a singular event: a footrace.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzOverview of the first Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece.
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GovernmentFootage/Pond5Rudolph was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983.
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Transcript
From 1980 to 2024 nearly 100 events have been added to the Olympic program, begging the question: How are sports chosen for the Olympics, and why do some sports never make it?
A sport’s path toward inclusion in the Olympics can be lengthy and complex, sometimes beginning years prior to the Olympics in which a sport is vying for entry.
Step one: become recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee, or IOC. To be recognized, a sport must have an international nongovernmental organization overseeing it.
Step two: attain International Sports Federation, or IF, status and become subject to the World Anti-Doping Code, enforced by the sport’s international nongovernmental organization. The sport’s international organization conducts out-of-competition drug tests on its competitors. These tests take place outside the time frame of any sporting competition; they can take place during training or outside of training completely.
Step three: The sport’s IF files a detailed petition with the IOC to gain admittance. After all steps are completed, a sport might still be ruled out. The IOC bans purely “mind sports” and sports dependent upon mechanical propulsion, slashing hopes of seeing chess or automobile racing anytime soon.
Hoping to fast-track the process? The Olympic Agenda 2020, passed in 2014, established the precedent that the Organising Committee of a specific Olympic Games may itself propose the inclusion of events to bolster the Games’ popularity in a given locale. The Tokyo 2020 Games were the first to see this process through, calling for the inclusion of surfing, karate, sports climbing, skateboarding, baseball, and softball.
The glory that comes with a sport finally reaching the Olympic stage can be short-lived, as the IOC attempts to manage the size of the Olympics by permitting new sports only when simultaneously discontinuing others. The introduction of break dancing in 2024 comes with the removal of baseball and softball, although a lack of proper fields for ball sports could also be a culprit. Over the years, polo and waterskiing were bid farewell, while cricket and lacrosse made comebacks.
Even tug-of-war once held its own as a respected Olympic sport. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see its return soon.
A sport’s path toward inclusion in the Olympics can be lengthy and complex, sometimes beginning years prior to the Olympics in which a sport is vying for entry.
Step one: become recognized as a sport by the International Olympic Committee, or IOC. To be recognized, a sport must have an international nongovernmental organization overseeing it.
Step two: attain International Sports Federation, or IF, status and become subject to the World Anti-Doping Code, enforced by the sport’s international nongovernmental organization. The sport’s international organization conducts out-of-competition drug tests on its competitors. These tests take place outside the time frame of any sporting competition; they can take place during training or outside of training completely.
Step three: The sport’s IF files a detailed petition with the IOC to gain admittance. After all steps are completed, a sport might still be ruled out. The IOC bans purely “mind sports” and sports dependent upon mechanical propulsion, slashing hopes of seeing chess or automobile racing anytime soon.
Hoping to fast-track the process? The Olympic Agenda 2020, passed in 2014, established the precedent that the Organising Committee of a specific Olympic Games may itself propose the inclusion of events to bolster the Games’ popularity in a given locale. The Tokyo 2020 Games were the first to see this process through, calling for the inclusion of surfing, karate, sports climbing, skateboarding, baseball, and softball.
The glory that comes with a sport finally reaching the Olympic stage can be short-lived, as the IOC attempts to manage the size of the Olympics by permitting new sports only when simultaneously discontinuing others. The introduction of break dancing in 2024 comes with the removal of baseball and softball, although a lack of proper fields for ball sports could also be a culprit. Over the years, polo and waterskiing were bid farewell, while cricket and lacrosse made comebacks.
Even tug-of-war once held its own as a respected Olympic sport. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see its return soon.
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