Will Roller Derby become an Olympic Sport in 2020?
Shortlist: Roller Derby is in contention for the 2020 Olympics. PIC: Wikipedia
At the 123rd International Olympic Committee session in South Africa, president of the committee Jacques Rogge announced that Roller Derby was among eight sports under consideration for addition to the 2020 Olympic Games.
The sports under consideration include Baseball, Softball, Wakeboarding, Squash, sport climbing, Rollersports, Karate, and the Martial Arts known as Wushu—all will be evaluated and considered for inclusion in future Olympics. A final list will be compiled and voted upon in 2013 at the International Olympic Committee meeting.
The International Olympic Committee and its President have not made decisions in favour of women in years past. A good example being the elimination of women's Softball, which was criticised as being unfair towards female athletes.
Recently, the International Olympic Committee had refused to add women's Ski-Jumping to the Olympic schedule, but after many protests and court cases, the committee relented and women's Ski-Jumping will appear in the Olympic schedule for the first time at the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Some fans and athletes are sceptical that women's Roller Derby will be added to the 2020 Olympics, especially when recent actions against women's sports, such as Softball, have been taken by the Olympic committee.
Hot Wheel star Ruthless Philly remains on the fence on whether Roller Derby should be included in the 2020 Oympics.
She admitted: “As soon as it becomes an Olympic sport some people believe it will take away the fish nets, the makeup and the funny names. So as soon as it becomes an Olympic sport, people believe those things will die out.”
However, there is always two sides to the argument and she feels that spectators would benefit from watching this up and coming sport.
She said:”The other side of it is that its an unbelievably, competitive, exciting and adrenaline filled sport from a spectator point of view it would be incredible to have in the Olympics Games and for a skater to represent your country at the Olympics, I for one would never believe that was possible for somebody like me, but it actually could happen”
Whether Roller Derby is included in the 2020 Olympics, the decision could well split Roller Derby worldwide with players unconvinced about what effect it could have on the game, with other players excited at the prospect of representing their country at the Olympic Games.
The sports under consideration include Baseball, Softball, Wakeboarding, Squash, sport climbing, Rollersports, Karate, and the Martial Arts known as Wushu—all will be evaluated and considered for inclusion in future Olympics. A final list will be compiled and voted upon in 2013 at the International Olympic Committee meeting.
The International Olympic Committee and its President have not made decisions in favour of women in years past. A good example being the elimination of women's Softball, which was criticised as being unfair towards female athletes.
Recently, the International Olympic Committee had refused to add women's Ski-Jumping to the Olympic schedule, but after many protests and court cases, the committee relented and women's Ski-Jumping will appear in the Olympic schedule for the first time at the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Some fans and athletes are sceptical that women's Roller Derby will be added to the 2020 Olympics, especially when recent actions against women's sports, such as Softball, have been taken by the Olympic committee.
Hot Wheel star Ruthless Philly remains on the fence on whether Roller Derby should be included in the 2020 Oympics.
She admitted: “As soon as it becomes an Olympic sport some people believe it will take away the fish nets, the makeup and the funny names. So as soon as it becomes an Olympic sport, people believe those things will die out.”
However, there is always two sides to the argument and she feels that spectators would benefit from watching this up and coming sport.
She said:”The other side of it is that its an unbelievably, competitive, exciting and adrenaline filled sport from a spectator point of view it would be incredible to have in the Olympics Games and for a skater to represent your country at the Olympics, I for one would never believe that was possible for somebody like me, but it actually could happen”
Whether Roller Derby is included in the 2020 Olympics, the decision could well split Roller Derby worldwide with players unconvinced about what effect it could have on the game, with other players excited at the prospect of representing their country at the Olympic Games.