YOUSNOOZEYOULOSE: September 2007

Monday, September 24, 2007

Yea Bobby!

Looks like skateboarding won't be in the Olympics after all

Plans to bring skateboarding to the program for the 2012 Olympics are headed for a crash landing, sources tell Around the Rings. In a bid to increase youth appeal for cycling the UCI wants to add half pipe BMX to the London program, joining the motocross discipline which will debut in Beijing. As part of a play to make maximum use of the BMX half pipe track, UCI was also willing to consider bringing skateboarding into the federation for a double-barreled shot at attracting younger sports fans for the Olympics.

UCI sports director Olivier Queguiner, who met recently with IOC officials to discuss the situation, now tells Around the Rings that the "no decision about skateboard" will take place during the UCI Congress in Stuttgart later this month. A vote of the UCI Congress is a must to bring a new discipline into the sport of cycling. Failure to act this year effectively kills the chance of adding skateboarding to London.

High-level sources in Lausanne say the IOC will take no action on skateboarding until it hears from the UCI. One source indicates 2016 is a more likely start for skateboard. Skateboarders are also apparently divided on what event to stage in the Olympics, with the majority of top boarders believed to be in favor of a street-style event, not the half-pipe proposed by UCI.