While complaints continue to arise about the issues regarding drug testing in the sport of weightlifting and others are grousing about the change in the competition format that appears inevitable, there has been little discourse about the fallout that would occur should the sport be dropped from the Olympic Games.
The World’s Party
I was fortunate enough to attend the Munich Games. I had been training with some of the U.S. weightlifting team members and was familiar with the American fans that were in attendance at the competition. Each evening after the competition was over we would go out for food and drink at the restaurants in the vicinity around the competition venue. What struck me was the variety of nationalities represented in these eateries and the enthusiasm with which they discussed the day’s events. The epiphany that suddenly became evident to me was that the Olympic Games are the world’s party. Nearly every nation on Earth has some rooting interest in the Games. It is the only event on the planet where nearly every nation is represented by a fan delegation.
Government Support
With very few exceptions (the U.S.A. being one of them), the governments of the member nations support their Olympic athletes to whatever degree it is possible. Over the years during my many travels and encounters with foreign athletes I’ve always made it a point to determine the extent of governmental support. While many of the programs are not lavish nor extensive, if a country feels that they have a realistic qualifier, it will provide at the very least travel expenses. Coaching fees may be covered and if funding is available training fees within the period leading up to the Games. In the more powerful nations athletic and coaching professionalism is financed as well as a budget for staging major events and conducting sport science research.
In short the sport is funded by international governments at the global level and the rationale is because weightlifting is an Olympic medal sport.
So if Weightlifting goes away….
We may well be on the brink of losing weightlifting from the Olympic programme. For much too long the International Weightlifting Federation has failed to take a position as cultural change-maker and stringently enforce doping controls. 2020 could well be the last year that the sport is part of the Olympic family, a position it has maintained since the inception of the Games in 1896.
The great performances in the sport are largely authored by professional athletes coached by professional coaches supported by professional sport administrators and sports science professionals. For lack of financial resources many great athletes may have to forego participation in global competitions. World and continental events may be relegated to smaller, less lavish venues. Sponsorships will dry up, and amateur sports federations may be forced to direct their energies toward fund-raising. There will be a global shrinkage of competitive activity.
And the beat goes on….
At the same time that weightlifting the sport is fighting for its very survival as an Olympic event, the Olympics as a whole are facing its own difficulties. The recent bid process for the 2024 Games serves as an example. Boston, Hamburg, Rome and Budapest all withdrew from the bid process because the Games have become so big and the requirements so demanding that many cities and national Olympic committees cannot afford to serve as hosts.
In an unprecedented move, the IOC simultaneously allocated the 2024 Games to Paris and the 2028 Games to Los Angeles in anticipation of a lack of bidders for 2028.
In an effort to hold down costs, the IOC has for several quads restricted the number of participants to 10,000 so that host cities could plan for the provision of Olympic villages. At the same time the IOC has added new sports to attract more spectator interest and as such each sport overall has been provided a quota as to the number of competitors allowed to fit into the aforementioned 10,000.
Proposed Changes
Currently the IOC is proposing that B sessions be eliminated, the team size be reduced, and a change in weight classes as well as a change in the qualifying procedures that will be based on individual rather than team performances.
As expected there has been some resistance expressed as the Olympic weightlifting competitions have been held in pretty much the same format as the IWF world championships for decades.
The fact of the matter appears to be that the Olympic representation of weightlifting will be different than it has been in the past and different than it is conducted in non-Olympic championships. The alternative is elimination from the Games and the subsequent fallout.
Onward…..
We are much better off with a modified presence in the Games than elimination altogether. Not only has weightlifting gained greater cachet as a competitive sport, it has also proven to provide training benefits for other sports. These gains in acceptance could die away and leave it as a quaint folk activity if Olympic inclusion is lost. The sport deserves a place at the table.
While complaints continue to arise about the issues regarding drug testing in the sport of weightlifting and others are grousing about the change in the competition format that appears inevitable, there has been little discourse about the fallout that would occur should the sport be dropped from the Olympic Games.