A step towards the Olympic Games

A step towards the Olympic Games

The World Games is considered a stepping stone towards becoming part of the Olympic Games. In a Press Conference held before the Opening Ceremony fo The World Games, President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach said that his organisation is “working very closely with The World Games” to help the organising committees of future Olympic Games decide which sports to include in their programme.

IOC President Thomas Bach
IOC President Thomas Bach

Dr Bach highlighted the role that The World Games has in decisions involving which sports to include at Olympic level: “[the IOC has] a very close cooperation with the International World Games Association with a view also to the Olympic program because we have to see how a sport fits in the framework of a multi-sports event, what consequences it has for the logistics, for the organisation. Does it fit into the overall image of the event?”

The 10th edition of The World Games, in Wroclaw provides the opportunity for sports to demonstrate that they are worthy of being in the Olympics. Dr Bach explained: “we have a team here of observers who will look at all the sports and all the disciplines and then we will continue talking”.

Karate and Sport Climbing have already been selected for the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, but Thomas Bach said it was too early to speculate about which sports would be included in 2024 “in particular because of the fact that for 2024, it will be, like for Tokyo, up to the future organiser to make those proposals and the recommendations. And since we do not know yet who is organising The Olympic Games 2024 we also do not have these proposals.”

But Dr Bach was pleased of the opportunity to see two future Olympic sports at in Wroclaw.

“We are happy and we also think it’s a good signal for all the sports participating here, sports like Climbing, like Karate, that they are figuring here on the programme on The World Games, but they are also ready on the Olympic Games, Tokyo 2020.”

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