Skydiving as a demonstration sport in the London 2012 Olympics?!

[nigelh 0]

Well, The 2012 Olympics are being held in London,
A few people have mentioned getting Skydiving as part of the Olympics, i'm just curious as to what people think!?

The Criteria is this:
Acceptance of a sport into the Olympic Games Program
For a sport to be included in the Olympic Games, the sport must first be recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) under the conditions that it has an International Federation (IF), and that this Federation has held a World Championship competition.

The sport may then be included initially as a demonstration sport, and the sport's International Federation may make an application to the IOC for consideration as an Olympic Sport. This application process must take place a minimum of six years before a scheduled Olympic Games.

In Atlanta, only one new sport was added to the program - women's softball, however, there were three new disciplines introduced - women's soccer, mountain bike racing and beach volleyball.

Nigel

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Sponored by NZ Aerosports, CYPRES 2, Tonfly & L&B

Team Dirty Sanchez #232

[kbordson 8]

I think it would be a great idea.... being biased of course.

I can understand the arguments against. It's hard to understand the difficulty, skill unless you've done it and know how much training it takes. And as far as spectators, (except for swooping), not much to really see from the ground.

But, I still think it would be cool!!

[Amanda965 0]

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It's hard to understand the difficulty, skill unless you've done it and know how much training it takes. And as far as spectators, (except for swooping), not much to really see from the ground.

But aren't most sports this way?? Unless you have attempted crew, gymnastics, 400m relays, or speedskating you will never truly understand the amount of time, skill and dedication that the particular sport takes, but as a spectator, you will still most likely have admiration for those who do it! I think it would bring a "dangerous sport" into positive light.

One thing that was mentioned is that it has to be brought forward for approval 6 years before the olympics & that would mean they need to get it started now. Is anyone truly working on this? It would be interesting to see how tryouts are held, what discipline(s) of skydiving are held, etc.

Does skydiving hold intl. meets? I am not aware of them?

Are there enough countries that would be represented through skydiving to make it a legitimate olympic sport?

Someone told me that baseball and softball are being d/c at the London olympic games, is this true?

Blue skies and SAFE landings!
~Amanda~

[ltdiver 3]

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ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[Tink1717 2]

It's a great idea, but it will never happen. The only event that would be spectator friendly is some form of swooping. This solves only one problem. The games are, by necessity, made for and by TV coverage. A sport that can be canceled by the weather doesn't stand chance. Also, consider the fallout from the first time a fatal biff happens and even in countries where lawsuits are not out of control and you still have a highly unpalatable liability picture.

Bottom line: Olympic Skydiving will always remain a dream.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[fallingchip 0]

Off the subject a little bit, but what happened to skydiving in the X-Games?

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"A radical man is a man with both feet firmly planted in the air."
-Franklin Delano Roosevelt

[nigelh 0]

Yeah i saw there were other threads, wanted to start a new Poll though,

Nigel

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Sponored by NZ Aerosports, CYPRES 2, Tonfly & L&B

Team Dirty Sanchez #232

[Tink1717 2]

The people who ran the X Games figured out you couldn't sell a million parachutes. It they were only interested selling skateboards and BMX bikes.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[Andy9o8 0]

The mentality of Olympic "officials": they add rythmic gymnastics (you know, that thing where they twirl the long ribbons) and synchronized swimming. Real mainstream sports, eh? Then they remove baseball. Bottom line: consider the source. (Real bottom line: they can bite me.)

[Ron 7]

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But aren't most sports this way?? Unless you have attempted crew, gymnastics, 400m relays, or speedskating you will never truly understand the amount of time, skill and dedication that the particular sport takes, but as a spectator, you will still most likely have admiration for those who do it! I think it would bring a "dangerous sport" into positive light

Yes, and no.

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Unless you have attempted crew,

Ask around. Find out how many people you know have ever rowed a boat, or done the rowing machines. I bet more (in general) than normal folks have skydived.

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gymnastics

I also bet more have done some type of gymnastics...Maybe just rolls, but almost everyone has done some type of Gym.

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400m relays

I bet most people have run....

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speedskating

I bet more people have skated.

See its about frame of reference. People run, row, tumble and can imagine how hard the other stuff must be....Most think skydiving is just trying to get a parachute out.

Take NASCAR. Most people drive and can imagine themselves on a track.....VERY few people can imagine themslves in freefall.

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Does skydiving hold intl. meets? I am not aware of them?

You have been skydiving two years and don't know that? No offense, but if a person involved with the sport is not interested enough, what makes you think a whuffo will care?

And yes, there are plenty of international meets...More than Baseball. In fact one just ended last week.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[ltdiver 3]

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Yeah i saw there were other threads, wanted to start a new Poll though,

Nigel

As much as we'd like to feature our sport in a venue like the Olympics, the status of whether or not it's a workable model for them hasn't changed.

B.J. Worth and Co. tried but were shut down by the IOC.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[Andy9o8 0]

But you still haven't addressed the burning question of rythmic gymnastics (the twirly-ribbony thing). How could we possibly compete with that?? It's hopeless.

[Ron 7]

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But you still haven't addressed the burning question of rythmic gymnastics (the twirly-ribbony thing). How could we possibly compete with that?? It's hopeless.

You are right, it is hopeless.

A 10 year old can pester their Dads till he buys them the ribbon twirly thing.

The same reason that the Xgames dropped skydiving. There is no market. You can sell kids skatebords all day long and make some money out of it. Then there are the games, and those stupid little finger boards.

There is no way skydiving will be able to compete with a sport that can be done in a kids backyard.

Also even though we love our sport....It is quite boring to a whuffo after a while.

Turn on a vidoe and most times people will say cool, but once they see the same thing over and over....They will walk away.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Andy9o8 0]

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Also even though we love our sport....It is quite boring to a whuffo after a while.........Turn on a vidoe and most times people will say cool, but once they see the same thing over and over....They will walk away.

Maybe...or maybe it's a matter of marketing. We all know that some of the best marketing is telling the consumer what he wants. Look at NASCAR auto racing. To some, it's interesting, but to others, it's just cars going round & round & round. But the professional marketers got involved and made heroes of these wheel gods. Sure, the guys in Tuscaloosa and Raleigh and Jacksonville all liked the Petty boys, but, I mean, who the fuck is Jeff Gordon? Answer: he's a fungible commodity whose face is on the Wheaties box, so the kids in LA, and Minneapolis and Long Island all wanna be him, and now NASCAR racing is popular nation-wide, not just in the deep South. Sell skydiving, and a few sky gods, like a well-packaged detergent and maybe it will start to interest the masses enough to get some air time.

For starters, let's play that introductory video featuring "that guy who looks like ZZ Top"

[Ron 7]

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Maybe...or maybe it's a matter of marketing

Its a matter of being able to understand.

People understand NASCAR since a good number of them drive. They can pretend they are Petty or Gordon since they know what it is to drive a car.

Most have no clue about what it takes to skydive.

Even skydivers don't know about parts of the sport.

Not only is it hard to understand the basics or have a frame of reference, but the basic concept is hard to explain.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[MikeJD 0]

You want to introduce skydiving the year the Olympics are held in the UK? People are going to come away from that saying, that's not a sport - it's a lot of sitting around on the ground bitching about the weather...

[jashe 0]

I can't understand your hang-up with whether or not people can understand what it's like to skydive. Have you ever pole-vaulted?
Thrown a javelin? I know you're going to say most people have thrown a stick but then again most people will have jumped off a high wall or a high diving board.
Olympic sports are extraordinary sports or ordinary sports taken to the extreme - sounds just like a description of skydiving.

I just can't understand the negative attitude to skydiving in the Olympics - can someone explain it to me?

My liver is evil...I must punish it!

[Ron 7]

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I can't understand your hang-up with whether or not people can understand what it's like to skydive. Have you ever pole-vaulted?

Yes.

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Thrown a javelin?

Yes.

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I know you're going to say most people have thrown a stick but then again most people will have jumped off a high wall or a high diving board.

Jumping off a wall or a diving board is not even close to skydiving.

If people can't relate, they will not watch, they will not become interested, and it will never be popular.

THAT is the problem with skydiving....We care since we do it, but most people don't care. And they don't want to care no matter how much we want them to care.

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Olympic sports are extraordinary sports or ordinary sports taken to the extreme - sounds just like a description of skydiving.

No, most Olympic events can be done WITHOUT a motorized vehicle.

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I just can't understand the negative attitude to skydiving in the Olympics - can someone explain it to me?

Not negative...realistic.

Can you explain why you want it in there so badly? You think you are the FIRST person to try? Skydiving opened the 88 games in Korea....Even before then people were trying, and the IOC does not want it...

Why do you think that we can force them to accept us?

What happens when you pester the shit out of your whuffo buddies to make a jump?

If you look you will see that people who are new to the sport are all about it, but those who have been doing it awhile know the answer already....Just like the stage where new jumpers have to tell everyone they are a skydiver.

In time you just accept that its not a popular sport and stop trying to make it popular.

Edit to include some quotes:

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Only golf and rugby were recommended for admission to the Olympic programme. The Commission recommended rejecting the applications of 14 other candidate sports, amongst them parachuting, to enter the Programme of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, 2008. The Olympic Programme Commission pointed out that any changes in the structure of the Olympic Programme should result in increased value and appeal of the Olympic Games, that global public and media interest should be considered as key elements in the analyses of sports, and that sports should give special emphasis to youth and development. Taking into consideration statistics on federation affiliation, number of nations competing in major events, and broadcast and press coverage, the Commission estimated that most sports bidding to enter the Games would not bring a higher level of global participation and interest than sports currently on the Programme. However, by interpreting Rule 52, Paragraph 4.2 of the Olympic Charter (‘…events in which performance depends essentially on mechanical propulsion are not acceptable’) as not applying when mechanical propulsion is used purely as technical support for the competition in areas unrelated to the sporting performance itself, the IOC left the door open for future bids by air sports such as parachuting.

Good luck skydiving without a plane. The rule allows motorized assists such as chair lifts. You can climb a mountain, you can't get to 10.5 without a motorized plane.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[Ashtanga 0]

I think it was Bill Von who said that if skydiving was to be an event in the olympics it would take the sport too mainstream and that it would hurt the sport in the future. I seem to agree with that.

[piisfish 135]

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Good luck skydiving without a plane. The rule allows motorized assists such as chair lifts. You can climb a mountain, you can't get to 10.5 without a motorized plane.

so we can make BASE jumping Olympic, with authorised used of lifts to go to the top of the object...
Except for the low altitude jumping Danish Team

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[billvon 2,400]

Think about what you like best about skydiving. Is it the core group of people you jump with? The idea that you have friends all across the US? Being able to walk onto any DZ, and know someone who knows a friend of yours? Relatively cheap jumps? Doing demos without too much paperwork? Getting on sunset big-ways just because the organizer knows you can handle it?

Say goodbye to most of those things if skydiving ever becomes a mainstream olympic sport. Want to see what that would be like? Go to any water park on a busy weekend.