One Olympic sport “will learn next month that its Games future is in jeopardy” when the IOC “meets to decide the shape of the summer Games” from ‘20 on, according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. The IOC board of directors during its meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland from Feb. 12-13 will “pick a core of 25 summer Olympic sports that will be put to a single vote at their session in Argentina in September.” The IOC will “recommend one sport to be cut from the original list of 26.” Rugby and golf, which are “being added” starting with the 2016 Rio Olympics, “will not [be] part of the process.” The IOC is “eager to revamp the Games' sports programme in an effort to keep up with the times and attract younger fans and sponsors as well as to rein in the size of the Games and keep the number of summer sports at a maximum of 28.” There are “seven candidate sports for a place on the programme with baseball and softball,” not in the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games, “making a joint bid for re-entry.” Chinese martial arts sport wushu, sport climbing, roller sports, squash, karate and wakeboarding also are "in the running for an Olympic spot.” Several Olympic sports are "reportedly at greater risk, with modern pentathlon and taekwondo among those mentioned often” (REUTERS, 1/30).
