(ATR) Skateboarding is attempting to air, flip and grind its way onto the Olympic program.
The World Skateboarding Federation is taking advantage of Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms and pushing for the sport’s inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 Games, WSF president Tim McFerran tells Around the Rings.
"We had a meeting with Tokyo 2020 several weeks ago and we discussed what our desires were to create a contest, and I think it was well received," McFerran said on Friday.
"We’re excited about the opportunities. We think the IOC is going about it in the right way, and I think there’s going to be a lot of developments over the next year."
"There’s a good group of leadership in the IOC, and we’re comfortable working with SportAccord," he added.
WSF is traveling to Istanbul to hold its inaugural Global Summit in May. The conference will bring skateboarders and officials together to focus on the growth and future of the sport. Potential Olympic inclusion will be discussed, as well as the creation of an internationally agreed upon contest format, scoring system and a unified network of qualifying events.
Among those expected are Vlad Marinescu, general director of SportAccord, and Christian Wassmer, who is in charge of the IOC and international federation recognition process.
"We’ve invited a bunch of Olympic officials, many of whom are planning on attending, but haven’t confirmed," McFerran told ATR.
Skateboarding made its Olympic debut in the Sports Lab at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games. The showcase highlighted sports which may, in the future, merit Olympic inclusion. The IOC opted to have rival body International Skateboarding Federation represent skateboarding in the Sports Lab.
When questioned, McFerran indicated that collaboration between the two federations is not likely.
"I’m not up to speed with what the ISF, or FIRS for that matter, has or hasn’t been doing over the past however many years," he said.
"I’m only conscious of what we’re doing to try to promote skateboarding and to create a contest that people enjoy watching."
Written by Andrew Murrell
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
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