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- Adding summer events to Winter Olympics programme described as ‘piecemeal proposals’
- There had been suggestions that new sports could be added as soon as 2030
- IOC has been reviewing all aspects of summer and winter Games under new president Kirsty Coventry
Bringing non-Olympic disciplines of summer sports into the Winter Olympics risks diluting the Games’ brand and heritage, traditional winter sports federations have said.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is currently reviewing all aspects of summer and winter Games under its new president Kirsty Coventry, including the programme of sports, when the Games should take place and the selection of host cities.
As part of that debate there has been speculation that some summer sports – or disciplines of summer sports which do not currently feature in the Olympics – could become part of the Winter Olympics programme in the future, including cyclocross, cross country running and some indoor sports.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, who ran against Coventry in the IOC election, previously predicted that the sports had “a good chance” of being included as soon as the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.
The Winter Olympic Federations – which includes the international federations for biathlon, bobsleigh and skeleton, curling, ice hockey, luge, skating plus skiing and snowboarding – released a statement on Wednesday afternoon saying they were ‘fully committed to innovation, universality, and strengthening the special and clearly differentiated appeal of the Olympic Winter Games’.
However, the federations said: ‘The future of the Olympic Winter Games is not better served by piecemeal proposals, such as the inclusion of Summer IFs’ non-Olympic disciplines into the Olympic Winter Games.
‘The Winter Olympic Federations are firm in our belief that such an approach would dilute the brand, heritage, and identity that make the Olympic Winter Games unique – a celebration of sports practised on snow and ice, with distinct culture, athletes, and fields of play.”
WOF president Ivo Ferriani (pictured above) said: “Innovation should focus on evolving existing winter sports to attract broader participation and audiences while enhancing the appeal of the Olympic Winter Games.
“A successful example of such evolution is the inclusion of Ski Mountaineering (ISMF), a discipline born from authentic winter environments and emblematic of the continued development of winter sports.”
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