January 6/14 11:51 am - Rumours Resurface of Cyclo-cross at Winter Olympics

Posted by Editoress on 01/6/14
 

The Belgian newspaper Nieuwsbald has reported that UCI Cyclo-cross Co-ordinator Peter van den Abeele will meet with Christophe Dubi, Sports Director at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to discuss adding cyclo-cross to the Winter Olympics.

This is not the first time that this plan has been floated, with rumours of cyclo-cross being added to the Winter Olympic program surfacing during the lead up to every Winter Games. The benefits to the sport would be immeasurable, since it would increase funding to the discipline from national sports bodies and increase the number of countries participating in the sport. It is also a very television friendly sport and does not require expensive facilities to stage - both pluses to the IOC.

However, the major drawback is that it does not meet the IOC requirement for Winter Olympic sports that it must take place on snow or ice. A further drawback is that it is practiced in only a few countries, although that has been changing in recent years.

The impetus for these latest rumours is that the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) is also pushing for inclusion of cross-country running - the IAAF is an Olympic powerhouse federation, and could have more success in lobbying the IOC to change its sports rule to it may take place on snow or ice, rather than must.

See the Nieuwsblad article Here.