For those of you who are familiar with this complicated situation, fencing has 12 events and only 10 Olympic medals so two events have been left out of the last 2 Olympic Games.
http://timmorehouse.wordpress.com/20...ls-to-fencing/
The IOC just voted against adding the 2 medals which would allow the sport to be fully contested in London. Thoughts?
There is a sport where 1 guy can win 8 medals, but we can't get 12 for our entire sport? That seems fair...
"Sir, didn't I parry"
"You didn't take advantage of his blade enough, so no."
(I guess i should have romanced it a bit more..."
And yet they're considering adding more sports...they couldn't add 2 more medals after dumping softball and baseball??
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While we are thankful that we continue to be a part of the olympic tradition, times must and hopefully will change. Thank you Tim for the womderful article.
Don't take life so seriously... You'll never live through it.
It is disappointing for fencing, but some of the other recommendations are also interesting.
For 2012 they are introducinh women's boxing. On the relevance of medal counts -- currently 11 medals for men. Will become 10 men's and 3 women's.
Recommended for 2016 are golf (m & w) and rugby 7s (m & w).
I'm guessing Usain Bolt might have been able to take home a few more medals if, like Michael Phelps, he got to compete in the "backward" 100m and the "sideways" 100m and the "forward with your arms out" 100m.Originally Posted by catwood1
Swimming is a joke.
Och. Hardly unexpected, but still too bad.
Use the Shift key, people! Keyboard manufacturers everywhere are ineffably saddened when you ignore what they made just for you!
Very bad news, but at least we don't have to blame the USFA this time.
Of course we can! Proper financial management would have allowed sufficient funds for bribes, sorry, junkets.
au revoir
Never underestimate the power of a forum. Many on here are responsible for the halt of Stay and Play right? If every F.net member, their friends and their family sent 100 faxes a day for a month to (41.21) 621 62 16 (this is the IOC’s fax line)expressing discontent over this decision maybe they'll change their minds. Or at least their fax number. eFax.com has a 30 day free trial, after the trial period they charge $16.95 a month plus .10/pg. USD to send an online fax to Switzerland.
An online petition signed by members of the international fencing community could help too. Has their decision been written in stone?
If you could ask God for anything, what would it be?
www.needhim.org
The difference is that the fencing community is not responsible for much in the way of $ for the IOC, nor does it have any clout to use for anyone's job at the IOC.
It couldn't hurt to try. Money is not the end all be all. Neither is clout.
The IOC does not.......
Encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures with a view to implementing the principle of equality of men and women
or
Encourage and support the efforts of sports organizations and public authorities to provide for the social and professional future of athletes
or
Encourage and support the development of sport for all
when it cuts medals.
Source: Olympic Charter (starts at pg. 15 of the pdf)
http://multimedia.olympic.org/pdf/en_report_122.pdf
If you could ask God for anything, what would it be?
www.needhim.org
Do you really think the majority of the IOC members give a rat's a$$ about the Olympic Charter? Its about money, plain, pure and simple. The IOC is the ultimate corrupted bureaucracy.
That's it, I'm done with the discussion forums on F.net. It's had its uses, but the ideologues, ranters, and "experts" have drowned too many of the conversations. I'm changing my password to something random and never logging in again.
Not trying to be too contradictory but I've been following the IOC executive meeting for a few days now and nothing in any media has been said about fencing so the article. This is probably not positive, but other sports have been told they can have new events if they cut down the athletes and/or in existing categories. I don't know if fencing falls into this category and without seeing the full report we won't know until IOC congress in December.
Also the OP is wrong about when we will find out who misses out - we will find out after FIE congress in November.
I hate to be a downer, but that vader thing wasn't funny at all to me.... some people train for years for a shot at an olympic spot and funding. Now that this is out there, the question remains: why did those (bleepbleepbleepitybleeps) have to choose two womens events the first time around?
-Sabresque
"Those whippernsapper Be-Bop Bohemians!"
do remember it is only the team event that gets cut - it actually gives talented individual athletes a better chance of qualifying.
I believe two women's events were taken out in 2004 because two new women's events came in. Rightly this was changed for 2008.
Funnily enough, if we had kept it unfair we might have had a better chance of more medals with the equality angle.
The FIE sent a letter out to the President of each member Federation. Attached was the letter from the IOC to the FIE.
I haven't seen that letter (either letter, actually) on the FIE website yet, although I assume it'll be posted there in the near future.
The paragraphs in the IOC letter relevant to the decision read:
I assume that "maintain the current events" actually means maintain the current number (i.e. 10), rather than the exact program. In which case the decision would come, as mentioned by DownUnder, in November at the FIE Congress meeting.Whilst the IOC Executive Board fully acknowledges the value that Fencing brings to the Olympic Games and recognizes the situation that prevails within the Fencing community, it decided to maintain the current events for the Games of the XXXth Olympiad in London.
It is important to note that this decision is valid for the London 2012 Games only. Following the 2012 Olympic Games, a new review of events, format and quote will be conducted for the 2016 Games.
-B
"Oh but you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"
Ah that sucks - i miss these things as I'm on the other side of the world to my federation.
In some cases, making the team event might present the best shot to go. Al Carter was on a drive to make Beijing for men's foil team, but when that event was dropped, he stopped competing.
Need fencing equipment? See me at H.O.M. Fencing Supply
Going to your first tournament? Read "Choose yer weapon, Laddie (or: Dude, where's my foil?)"
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