PawneeSports
02-09-2006, 10:55 PM
They'rrre out! Olympics drop baseball, softball
Sports eliminated for 2012 Games, but could win way back in 2016
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050707/050707_baseballOLY2000_hmed.hmedium.jpg
The United States won gold in baseball in the 2000 Olympics. Baseball and softball, however, will be dropped from the Olympics in 2012.
Updated: 07-09-2005 12:41 a.m. ET
SINGAPORE - The International Olympic Committee delivered a shocking message to baseball and softball on Friday: Yer out!
The two sports were kicked out of the Olympics, unwanted by international sports officials who felt they were too American for the world sports stage.
The decision, made during a secret vote in Singapore, is effective for the 2012 London Games, meaning the two sports will have a final fling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The sports, the first eliminated since polo in 1936, are eligible to reapply for the 2016 Games.
Part II
Olympics-Baseball and softball fail to make London 2012
Updated: 02-09-2006 9:42 a.m. ET
TURIN - Baseball and softball's bids to get on the programme of the London 2012 Olympics failed on Thursday.
International Olympic Committee members in Turin ahead of the Winter Games voted against even holding a ballot to decide their re-admission to the Olympic programme.
The two sports were thrown off the programme after a vote at the Singapore Session last year, becoming the first to be cut from the Games since polo in 1936.
"They have thrown a totally clean sport into chaos ... this is so hard for me to swallow," softball federation president Don Porter told Reuters.
"To say I am disappointed would be a dramatic understatement. I am disillusioned by this whole thing now.
"This was a political decision, not a sporting one."
The refusal to reconsider the sports means London will stage a reduced Games of 26 sports in 2012. Athens 2004 staged the maximum 28.
LAST CHANCE
The last Olympics to be held with 26 sports was Atlanta in 1996. The minimum number required for a Games is 15.
Thursday's vote had been the last chance for the sports to make it back in time for 2012. They will, however, be eligible to reapply later for readmission at the 2016 Games.
"We will work closely with the two federations," IOC president Jacques Rogge said.
"We will work with them at the Olympic Games at Beijing and see if there's a chance to come back in the programme (for 2016). I understand the disappointment of those who pleaded for the re-instatement.
"But we will discuss with the sports the situation we have with them now and how it can be improved."
Porter was not convinced. "I have heard that before," he said. "It's hard to see what more he can do."
Former IOC vice-president Anita DeFrantz had earlier on Thursday appealed to her fellow members to re-admit softball, saying it had only been kicked out because members incorrectly associated it with baseball.
"It is a women's sport. It is a separate sport and should be considered separately from the merits of baseball," she said at the IOC Session.
"This sport provides an opportunity for women and deserves to be on our programme."
(c) Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
Sports eliminated for 2012 Games, but could win way back in 2016
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050707/050707_baseballOLY2000_hmed.hmedium.jpg
The United States won gold in baseball in the 2000 Olympics. Baseball and softball, however, will be dropped from the Olympics in 2012.
Updated: 07-09-2005 12:41 a.m. ET
SINGAPORE - The International Olympic Committee delivered a shocking message to baseball and softball on Friday: Yer out!
The two sports were kicked out of the Olympics, unwanted by international sports officials who felt they were too American for the world sports stage.
The decision, made during a secret vote in Singapore, is effective for the 2012 London Games, meaning the two sports will have a final fling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The sports, the first eliminated since polo in 1936, are eligible to reapply for the 2016 Games.
Part II
Olympics-Baseball and softball fail to make London 2012
Updated: 02-09-2006 9:42 a.m. ET
TURIN - Baseball and softball's bids to get on the programme of the London 2012 Olympics failed on Thursday.
International Olympic Committee members in Turin ahead of the Winter Games voted against even holding a ballot to decide their re-admission to the Olympic programme.
The two sports were thrown off the programme after a vote at the Singapore Session last year, becoming the first to be cut from the Games since polo in 1936.
"They have thrown a totally clean sport into chaos ... this is so hard for me to swallow," softball federation president Don Porter told Reuters.
"To say I am disappointed would be a dramatic understatement. I am disillusioned by this whole thing now.
"This was a political decision, not a sporting one."
The refusal to reconsider the sports means London will stage a reduced Games of 26 sports in 2012. Athens 2004 staged the maximum 28.
LAST CHANCE
The last Olympics to be held with 26 sports was Atlanta in 1996. The minimum number required for a Games is 15.
Thursday's vote had been the last chance for the sports to make it back in time for 2012. They will, however, be eligible to reapply later for readmission at the 2016 Games.
"We will work closely with the two federations," IOC president Jacques Rogge said.
"We will work with them at the Olympic Games at Beijing and see if there's a chance to come back in the programme (for 2016). I understand the disappointment of those who pleaded for the re-instatement.
"But we will discuss with the sports the situation we have with them now and how it can be improved."
Porter was not convinced. "I have heard that before," he said. "It's hard to see what more he can do."
Former IOC vice-president Anita DeFrantz had earlier on Thursday appealed to her fellow members to re-admit softball, saying it had only been kicked out because members incorrectly associated it with baseball.
"It is a women's sport. It is a separate sport and should be considered separately from the merits of baseball," she said at the IOC Session.
"This sport provides an opportunity for women and deserves to be on our programme."
(c) Reuters 2006. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.