Cable wakeboarding to be considered for 2020 Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has short listed the sport of cable wakeboarding for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games at the recent IOC Executive Board meeting in South Africa.
Other sports up on the IOC’s shortlist include baseball, karate, roller sports, softball, sports climbing, squash and wushu. The IOC will vote only one of these into the Games at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires in 2013.
The International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) has established an international task force — “Wakeboard 2020 Vision” — in an effort to drive the programme forward.
The IWWF cited the popularity of the sport of snowboarding in the Winter Olympics as an example of the youth-focused element that wakeboarding could add to the Summer Games. It said the arena format of cable wakeboarding provided a media and spectator friendly sport with many advantages from an Olympic Games perspective.
The IWWF said it will now focus on the complex task of satisfying the IOC’s requirements in order to establish the growth sport of wakeboarding as a serious contender for inclusion in the world’s biggest sporting event.
Visit www.iwsf.com for more information.