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#1
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FAI, soaring and Olympic Games
It's been under discussion for several times, but I want to bring it up again.
There have been several pro's and con's towards soaring in Olympics, but nobody argues that it'd rise the popularity of the sport. So it is important for soaring community. Therefore my question is following: Wich way is soaring worse than sailing? None of the cities that have organised Olympic games in the past would have any geographic troubles on organising soaring competitions (Moscow had troubles with organising sailing competition which had to be held in Tallinn - 900 km away). None of the latest summer games that I remember have had such miserable weather that the competition would have to be left unheld. The main argument against soaring is the fact that equipment can make a difference here. Well. Here is the challenge for igc. They have to face that their first trial of monoclass failed and they have to try again. This time with relatively high-performing, yet still not expencive standard or 15m class design. As a matter of fact I don't believe that sailing deserves to have 9 different classes on Olympics and soaring none. I personally think that FAI has failed bigtime to find the concensus amongst all air sports to get air sports represented on Olympic games. It shall be the biggest argument towards Olympic Commety - there's no air sports in Olympics nowadays. And the most suitable sport would be soaring because it's competitive, not so dependent on equipment and directly measurable. Making soaring TV-friendly shall not be a problem as well today. And with racing tasks only allowed on olympics it shall be understandable for general public as well. How can we do it? Regards, Kaido |
#2
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One could make it more of a spectator sport by having synchronized soaring,
with loops, rolls and spins judged while synchronized, with points deducted for less than perfect landings. The new Sparrowhawk sailplane would be perfect for this event. Colin --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.713 / Virus Database: 469 - Release Date: 6/30/04 |
#3
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Any sport that wants to crack the Olympic shell must pass these two tests:
1) People must want to watch it, which means it must have a visual appeal and must work on television. (Unfortunately, soaring might be the least direct and television-friendly sport I can think of.) 2) It must demonstrate the above by successful participation in the International World Games Association (IWGA), a collection of 30-odd Olympic wanna-bes that have their games every 4 years, one year after the Olympic games. (Think of the IWGA as the Olympic "farm system".) The 2005 IWGA will be in Duisburg, Germany. The IOC alway visits the IWGA to select which, if any, of the IWGA's sports might be suitable for inclusion as demonstration sports at the next Olympics. If a sport manages to get selected as an Olympic demonstration sport, it must then pass the test of succeeding in an actual Games. Good weather will not be enough for soaring -- see (1) above. Like it or not, the Games are about revenue, period. The FAI has been working hard since the mid 1980s to get one of its airsports into the Olympics. (Remember the "rings" freefall formation over the opening ceremonies at the 1988 games.) Parachuting (4-way Formation Skydiving and Accuracy Landing) has been an IWGA participant since Finland's 1997 games, and was the largest spectator ticket seller at the 2001 games in Akita, Japan. (The Accuracy Landing event is very popular with spectators.) Alas, the IOC elected not to include parachuting in the 2008 Beijing games, so the FAI will be without a representative for at least 8 more years. Interestingly, the 2005 IWGA will feature "Air sports: parachuting, gliding, free flight (hang gliding, paragliding)". It might be worth a visit to the FAI and IGC web sites to what form "gliding" will take at Duisburg. I'm certainly looking forward to watching the results up close -- I'll be there to support the parachuting events, but will be following the other air sports closely. More can be found at the IWGA web site: http://www.worldgames-iwga.org -ted w. "2NO" "iPilot" wrote in message ... It's been under discussion for several times, but I want to bring it up again. There have been several pro's and con's towards soaring in Olympics, but nobody argues that it'd rise the popularity of the sport. So it is important for soaring community. Therefore my question is following: Wich way is soaring worse than sailing? None of the cities that have organised Olympic games in the past would have any geographic troubles on organising soaring competitions (Moscow had troubles with organising sailing competition which had to be held in Tallinn - 900 km away). None of the latest summer games that I remember have had such miserable weather that the competition would have to be left unheld. The main argument against soaring is the fact that equipment can make a difference here. Well. Here is the challenge for igc. They have to face that their first trial of monoclass failed and they have to try again. This time with relatively high-performing, yet still not expencive standard or 15m class design. As a matter of fact I don't believe that sailing deserves to have 9 different classes on Olympics and soaring none. I personally think that FAI has failed bigtime to find the concensus amongst all air sports to get air sports represented on Olympic games. It shall be the biggest argument towards Olympic Commety - there's no air sports in Olympics nowadays. And the most suitable sport would be soaring because it's competitive, not so dependent on equipment and directly measurable. Making soaring TV-friendly shall not be a problem as well today. And with racing tasks only allowed on olympics it shall be understandable for general public as well. How can we do it? Regards, Kaido |
#4
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There have been several pro's and con's towards soaring in Olympics, but nobody argues that it'd rise the popularity of the sport. So it is important for soaring community. Therefore my question is following: Wich way is soaring worse than sailing? Because in sailing, you can "park" a bunch of boats, with the requisite TV crews, along the couse line. People will be able to watch the event - not so in soaring. Yes, I'm aware of the proposals to transmit GPS coordinates of the competitors to be displayed in some fashion. It ain't the same, IMHO. For other would be Olympic events, see: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=5746437 Tony V. http://home.comcast.net/~verhulst/SOARING |
#5
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"Tony Verhulst" wrote in message ... There have been several pro's and con's towards soaring in Olympics, but nobody argues that it'd rise the popularity of the sport. So it is important for soaring community. Therefore my question is following: Wich way is soaring worse than sailing? Because in sailing, you can "park" a bunch of boats, with the requisite TV crews, along the couse line. People will be able to watch the event - not so in soaring. Yes, I'm aware of the proposals to transmit GPS coordinates of the competitors to be displayed in some fashion. It ain't the same, IMHO. For other would be Olympic events, see: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=5746437 Tony V. http://home.comcast.net/~verhulst/SOARING The only way I can see soaring as a spectator sport is as a very technical one. Not only would it require real-time GPS tracking, it would require on board TV cameras on every competitor. Several camera aircraft would be needed to follow the leaders plus a staff of color commentators to explain why the pilot in 3rd place is taking a big chance by passing up that 5 knot thermal in an effort to claim 1st place. You couldn't do it real-time, you would have to cut away to another sport while the drama develops. Most of it would be edited recaps of the last hour or so of the action with color commentary. Long final glides just aren't very interesting except to the pilot. The rules would have to be vastly simplified so the audience could understand them. Start gates, finish gates, simple speed triangles and maybe even free distance would interest the audience. On the other hand, soaring is a visually compelling activity. There are very talented videographers who could produce stunning video clips that would hold a very large audience. The technology to do it just barely exists and it the cost would be astronomical. However, do it right and you would have half a billion people from around the world on the edge of their seats. I've got a feeling that it will happen sooner or later. Bill Daniels |
#6
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How was gliding presented in the 1936 Olympic games? Perhaps that could be the marketing hook: make Hitler's dream a reality! Make gliding an olympic sport! |
#7
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Olympics are athletic. Soaring has avoided (for the most part) having
medals or awards for endurance (long hours = crash). I dunno, the sailing olympians all look like they're in great shape. Pretty physical, that sport. And bosled even. I dunno if soaring really meets the hardbody "Olympic" concept. But hey, I guess there's no harm trying...I suppose an Olympic "cluster ballooning" event would be nice too... In article , iPilot wrote: It's been under discussion for several times, but I want to bring it up again. There have been several pro's and con's towards soaring in Olympics, but nobody argues that it'd rise the popularity of the sport. So it is important for soaring community. Therefore my question is following: Wich way is soaring worse than sailing? None of the cities that have organised Olympic games in the past would have any geographic troubles on organising soaring competitions (Moscow had troubles with organising sailing competition which had to be held in Tallinn - 900 km away). None of the latest summer games that I remember have had such miserable weather that the competition would have to be left unheld. The main argument against soaring is the fact that equipment can make a difference here. Well. Here is the challenge for igc. They have to face that their first trial of monoclass failed and they have to try again. This time with relatively high-performing, yet still not expencive standard or 15m class design. As a matter of fact I don't believe that sailing deserves to have 9 different classes on Olympics and soaring none. I personally think that FAI has failed bigtime to find the concensus amongst all air sports to get air sports represented on Olympic games. It shall be the biggest argument towards Olympic Commety - there's no air sports in Olympics nowadays. And the most suitable sport would be soaring because it's competitive, not so dependent on equipment and directly measurable. Making soaring TV-friendly shall not be a problem as well today. And with racing tasks only allowed on olympics it shall be understandable for general public as well. How can we do it? Regards, Kaido -- ------------+ Mark Boyd Avenal, California, USA |
#8
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Your fist point is achievable and in theis regard soaring can compete (I
don't say it currently does) with many other sports. At least I do not know anyone who wants to watch 8days of constant swimming. Your second point is good information, but in order to succeed soaring needs to have a successful monoclass before and PW-5 just isn't that. We have to get our own things ok before we jump to the IWGA. Otherwise we're just another wannabies. "Ted W" wrote in message ... Any sport that wants to crack the Olympic shell must pass these two tests: 1) People must want to watch it, which means it must have a visual appeal and must work on television. (Unfortunately, soaring might be the least direct and television-friendly sport I can think of.) 2) It must demonstrate the above by successful participation in the International World Games Association (IWGA), a collection of 30-odd Olympic wanna-bes that have their games every 4 years, one year after the Olympic games. (Think of the IWGA as the Olympic "farm system".) The 2005 IWGA will be in Duisburg, Germany. The IOC alway visits the IWGA to select which, if any, of the IWGA's sports might be suitable for inclusion as demonstration sports at the next Olympics. If a sport manages to get selected as an Olympic demonstration sport, it must then pass the test of succeeding in an actual Games. Good weather will not be enough for soaring -- see (1) above. Like it or not, the Games are about revenue, period. The FAI has been working hard since the mid 1980s to get one of its airsports into the Olympics. (Remember the "rings" freefall formation over the opening ceremonies at the 1988 games.) Parachuting (4-way Formation Skydiving and Accuracy Landing) has been an IWGA participant since Finland's 1997 games, and was the largest spectator ticket seller at the 2001 games in Akita, Japan. (The Accuracy Landing event is very popular with spectators.) Alas, the IOC elected not to include parachuting in the 2008 Beijing games, so the FAI will be without a representative for at least 8 more years. Interestingly, the 2005 IWGA will feature "Air sports: parachuting, gliding, free flight (hang gliding, paragliding)". It might be worth a visit to the FAI and IGC web sites to what form "gliding" will take at Duisburg. I'm certainly looking forward to watching the results up close -- I'll be there to support the parachuting events, but will be following the other air sports closely. More can be found at the IWGA web site: http://www.worldgames-iwga.org -ted w. "2NO" "iPilot" wrote in message ... It's been under discussion for several times, but I want to bring it up again. There have been several pro's and con's towards soaring in Olympics, but nobody argues that it'd rise the popularity of the sport. So it is important for soaring community. Therefore my question is following: Wich way is soaring worse than sailing? None of the cities that have organised Olympic games in the past would have any geographic troubles on organising soaring competitions (Moscow had troubles with organising sailing competition which had to be held in Tallinn - 900 km away). None of the latest summer games that I remember have had such miserable weather that the competition would have to be left unheld. The main argument against soaring is the fact that equipment can make a difference here. Well. Here is the challenge for igc. They have to face that their first trial of monoclass failed and they have to try again. This time with relatively high-performing, yet still not expencive standard or 15m class design. As a matter of fact I don't believe that sailing deserves to have 9 different classes on Olympics and soaring none. I personally think that FAI has failed bigtime to find the concensus amongst all air sports to get air sports represented on Olympic games. It shall be the biggest argument towards Olympic Commety - there's no air sports in Olympics nowadays. And the most suitable sport would be soaring because it's competitive, not so dependent on equipment and directly measurable. Making soaring TV-friendly shall not be a problem as well today. And with racing tasks only allowed on olympics it shall be understandable for general public as well. How can we do it? Regards, Kaido |
#9
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iPilot wrote:
It's been under discussion for several times, but I want to bring it up again. While soaring is a sport, and it is competitive, I have a real hard time viewing the participants as athletes. If you can sit in a lounge chair for hours on end, playing Nintendo with a joystick, you've got the athletic stamina and dexterity to be a gold medal soaring pilot. Why isn't chess an Olympic sport? Or playing Doom on a Nintendo GameCube? |
#10
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Mark James Boyd wrote:
Olympics are athletic. Well, that's the idea, anyway. I recently saw a picture of the US men's archery team. To call their physiques anything close to "athletic" would be a charitable. Tony V. |
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