Cycling dismay as women's events frozen out for London 2012

ffs, I've only just started training and EVERYTHING

can someone tell me who I can write a furious letter to? I am good on gender equality stuff, I reckon I can convince them.

Cycling dismay as women's events frozen out for London 2012

• IOC dashes British hopes for more women's medals
• Rugby sevens and golf on board for 2016 Games

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 August 2009 22.00 BST

British cycling reacted with dismay after the IOC announced that no events would be added to its programme at the Olympic Games in 2012, seemingly closing the door on Victoria Pendleton's chances of more than one gold.

The decision means that the governing body's campaign for equality in men's and women's track cycling events – there are seven men's and three women's events – is almost certainly doomed to failure.

British Cycling began lobbying for parity after the Beijing Games, where the female sprinter Pendleton had only one opportunity to win a gold medal while her male counterpart, Chris Hoy, had three. "There isn't a reason why we shouldn't have the same number of events as the men," said Pendleton, the gold medallist in the sprint. The campaign won the backing of the Olympics minister Tessa Jowell, who is expected to meet IOC president Jacques Rogge this weekend in Berlin.

But the IOC said requests for new events by cycling, swimming and wrestling "could happen, especially if the new events increase the participation of women at the Games" though only "on condition that they replace events already on the programme".

In other words, additional women's events can only be included at the expense of existing men's events to avoid adding to the overall number of athletes competing – a compromise that British Cycling, and the International Cycling Union (UCI), both seem opposed to.

"We would be very concerned about the possibility of the loss of any men's events," said the British Cycling president, Brian Cookson. "The IOC should think very carefully before reducing any men's events." The IOC's solution, added Cookson, represented "a very unsatisfactory conclusion" to the campaign for equality. "Longer term our objective is for equality in men's and women's events," he said. "Now the onus seems to be on the sport to lose events, but that's not what we were looking for. There can be equality [in the number of events] without increasing the number of athletes."

Pat McQuaid, the UCI president, suggested that the cycling events would stay as they were. "Firstly we'd have to sit down with the IOC and see how they expect us to achieve [increased female participation]," McQuaid told Cycling Weekly.

The UCI came under fire after the Athens Games for dropping the men's kilometre and women's 500m time-trials to include BMX, and McQuaid hinted that it would be reluctant to scrap another discipline. "It would be very difficult to change anything. It wouldn't take away from the sporting [spectacle] to have more women's events, but it would be of serious detriment to the sport if we had to take away from the men's programme; there'd be ramifications all round."

Campaigners who had welcomed yesterday's inclusion of women's boxing in the 2012 games said the decision not to add any more women's events unless categories for the men were dropped was a setback. "If the IOC were committed to helping the international federations make progress, it would be helpful if they could be more flexible," said Sue Tibballs, chief executive of the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation. "It signals there is more to be done to persuade the IOC this is critical for their reputation."

A senior IOC source said cycling, swimming and wrestling have until December, when it meets in Lausanne, to propose any changes for the London Games. "If [changes] were to promote gender equality then the chances are the IOC would listen very carefully," said the source. "The IOC is certainly committed to going down the gender equality route."

The IOC also came under fire last night from some of the five sports that lost out to rugby sevens and golf in the race for inclusion in the 2016 Games. They voiced fears the bidding process favoured sports with deep pockets and would evolve into the circus of lobbying, presentations and glossy brochures that characterise the race to host the Games.

The losing sports, which have no chance of inclusion in 2016 even if the IOC congress in Copenhagen in October rejects its board's recommendations, now face up to the double whammy of swallowing the money spent on their campaign and missing out on the guaranteed funding that Olympic status attracts. "We've now got a big gap to fill. It has left a big hole in our finances that will take years to repair," said Dr George Mieras, championships director at World Squash. "I would be in favour of a process that had a fixed upper limit on what you could spend."

International Softball Federation president Don Porter said the campaign had cost around $1m (£600,000). "I hope we don't get into the same situation as bid cities. We've spent quite a bit of money that we could have directed into development work. But we had to divert that funding to keep in the game here. That isn't what it should be about," he said.

"It's going to be very difficult for us, we'll have to work towards finding alternate resources for funding. What we had to expend, it shouldn't have to be that way. But the way the system is right now, it is."

Considered taking up boxing Bendix?

That's shit. Lord Coe perhaps? Harriet Harman as Minister for Women and Equality?

Meanwhile Swimming has about five fucking billion events! Fucking IOC cunts.

Meanwhile Swimming has about five fucking billion events! Fucking IOC cunts.

oi! leave swimming out of this!

Meanwhile Swimming has about five fucking billion events! Fucking IOC cunts.

sits and waits for a swimming forum to find this comment, reaches for popcorn

ha. i'm on a swimming forum.

how about a compromise? women's underwater cycling.

win, win and win.

Swimming is a joke at the Olympics. You get 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m events in just about every stroke, then medleys, relays, medley relays. It's ridiculous.

Considered taking up boxing Bendix?

Yes.

That's shit. Lord Coe perhaps? Harriet Harman as Minister for Women and Equality?

I'm not sure Harriet would bother with it because it's not something that needs changing through Parliament... though I might be able to trick her into commenting on it if I put myself at risk of getting fired. hmm.

I'm going to email the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation, they always know what to do.

I think you're missing the point. We now have the opportunity to see major advances in sexual equality being illustrated on the world stage in 2012. We get to flick on the telly and watch two women slap the piss out of one another in a controlled environment. Fuck yeah. Smack 'er fuckin lights out!

joanna lumley?

I think you're missing the point. We now have the opportunity to see major advances in sexual equality being illustrated on the world stage in 2012. We get to flick on the telly and watch two women slap the piss out of one another in a controlled environment. Fuck yeah. Smack 'er fuckin lights out!

Sounds like croydon on a friday night

ha. i'm on a swimming forum.

how about a compromise? women's underwater cycling.

synchronised cycling! much more ladylike.

Dressage?

Swimming is a joke at the Olympics. You get 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m events in just about every stroke, then medleys, relays, medley relays. It's ridiculous.

you missed out 1500m and 10,000m. fucking swimmers, coming over here and stealing our events.

But the IOC said requests for new events by cycling, swimming and wrestling "could happen, especially if the new events increase the participation of women at the Games" though only "on condition that they replace events already on the programme".

In other words, additional women's events can only be included at the expense of existing men's events to avoid adding to the overall number of athletes competing – a compromise that British Cycling, and the International Cycling Union (UCI), both seem opposed to.

Here we go, this nonsense would seem to be a major source of this asshattery.

What the hell is wrong with more events taking place? None of the proposed additional event represent any less a degree of athleticism or sporting endeavour than any other existing events The facilities that exist will be able to cope with the demands of higher numbers of events and the equitable participation of women will encourage more women to participate in sporting activites, an area of life typically and unreasonable dominated by men.

I think there was another thread mentioning this a while back and it was suggested that we hold our own Additional Olympic Track Cycling at Herne Hill at the same time. We should absolutely do that.

More events = more cost, more organisation, etc.
If they don't get enough high-level women competing in these events they don't want to run the event. Catch 22 is, if women never see women racing who do they have to aspire to?

Oh yeah.. Fuck the swimming events.

i am on a fencing forum, similar whinges there, though its not just women's events that get cut

More events = more cost, more organisation, etc.
If they don't get enough high-level women competing in these events they don't want to run the event. Catch 22 is, if women never see women racing who do they have to aspire to?

Oh yeah.. Fuck the swimming events.

this is all true. except the bit about swimming. leave swimming alone!

Swimming is for kids who were too crap to get picked for teams in ball sports.

How the fuck is Golf a proper sport? It's dressing up in shit clothes, going for a walk and hitting a ball miles with a stick. Any sport that someone the shape of John Daly can compete at the top level is not a sport.
What next? Olympic darts?

50m

50m that is a joke!

why is swimming getting such a hard time, boxing is rediculous with the number of weight categories, boxers should all fight in the same category, thats something i'd pay to watch.

also weight lifting, all athletes do this to train for their event, so its basically an event in training, and why are their different categories of weight lifting, how can you have a different event based on a different technique of doing exactly the same thing, you may as well have hurdles for people who lead with their left and right leg and ambidextrously. Apparently they do different competitions for people who are fatter than each other.

swimming is matter of life and death

Its all gone a bit mental, the 'lympics. It needs to get back to its roots. I'd much rather watch two oily greek men wrestling in the nude than most of the tripe currently passed off as sports.