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Are there 70+ nations that do dressage? Or do they get around it by lumping together all the horsey things?
c00ps-
I think this is why the 'how many nations do something' rationale is flawed - sure, there is probably evidence of horse ownership and horses doing pretty moves in lots of places, but if you looked at numbers involved in the various sports surely Netball/Squash would have to come in. Having said that, it would probably open the door to Cricket and Kabadi! I think the real issue here is, predictably, financial. They wanted football/hockey/softball/golf/skateboarding/surfing in because they can attract and accommodate large audiences, large concessions income for host countries, large TV audiences, large corporate 'partnerships' from manufacturers and brands etc. Squash and netball don't offer anything like the financial imperative. Still, I always think when you're putting together such a logistical behemoth would it really take much more to throw in a squash venue and double up the basketball arena for some netball? It just seems perverse, but I guess there are probably loads of niche sports I'm just not aware of that would make the same argument and that does need to be a criteria somewhere...
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There are more than 70 nations with rich people who like to find interesting ways of torturing animals and have disproportionate influence in all aspects of life.
owl
kl
This is what holds squash back too - and as you note, the irony that dressage is in whilst actual sports miss out is nonsense....