IOC: Ski mountaineering will not be olympic on 2014
Par skimo.org le Mar, 2006-11-28 22:18.
"Today the Executive Board of the IOC decided not to include Ski Mountaineering in the review process of the program of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games." informed this evening though a short e-mail press note the President of the ISMC-UIAA, Mr. Jordi Colomer.
After 7 years of work, the ISMC didn't reach his main goal: to be Olympic. The challenge was for sure not easy: an UIAA with many internal problems, the importance of medias to be Olympic, problems to adapt an alpine sport into the security rules of the Olympic Games... The hope of many athletes to be Olympic in Torino 2006... or Vancouver 2010.... or maybe 2014... is gone. We will have to wait for a new generation, new racers nowadays not older than 10 to 15 years. Maybe they will be Olympic at the age of 28 in 2018.... or maybe not.
It's for sure a pity: medias and financial help to develop our sport is very related with being Olympic. Anyway, ski mountaineering is a lot more than a "hope to be Olympic". With races that are almost 60 years old, great mediatic events like Patrouille des Glaciers, Pierramenta and Mezzalama, with every time more athletes and more licenses in all countries, our sport is growing more than any other winter sport.
ISMC, Federations and organizations have now a new goal: to make our sport even greater. We don't have to get obsessed about the Olympic Games. We have to work on our sport, from the training of the youngest athletes until a strong and attractive World Cup. There is a lot to do. Maybe one day.... the IOC will ask us to be Olympic.
It's not about olympics
At this point, I think that all we have to think about what we want for our sport. It's true that some of us think that UIAA-ISMC could have done it better, but we shall admit that it's the whole ski mountaineering community that has to change.
We have to construct a solid competition platform, from the young racers to the elite racers with a logical progression. All races have to share a consistent high quality schema among the same cup or championship. And there have to be more top quality races in all countries, and construct a collaboration between them.
If we have all this things we will have a good starting point to attract racers and sponsors. Then, if needed, the olympics. No one should have focused on olympics without a good competition structure that supports it.
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