Cyclocross in the olympics

[Veloo]

Discussed before, maybe it'll happen sooner than later.

The next cyclocross World Cup event will take place on snow as part of Winter Olympic bid

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/t...er-olympic-bid

[Forza20]

that would be amazing !

cx is a great sport, and those who participate, especially at the tops levels, are superb athletes


id love to see cyclocross at the olympics

[tctyres]

That's nuts.
The course is complete snow. There are some track photos here: https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/val...oss-world-cup/

[rain dogs]

As much as I would love to see anything that heps cyclocross grow as a sport, I think the Olympic bid idea might be tough.

The IOC really shys away from sports dominated by one or two nations, and with few nations that participate at the elite level - and that's exactly 'cross is.

This is a Dutch and Belgian sport really. Sure, absolutely, there are riders from many nations, but the podiums in Elite womens would highly likely be entirely Dutch (save Blanka Vas (Hungarian) upending things) and the Men's would almost cetainly be just the Dutch and Belgians fighting it out.

Yes, there are riders like Rochette and Honsinger who could get lucky with the course and have a "legs of my life" day... but we're still talking what? 5, 6 nations with ANY real chance? Even the common points upperleaderboard cycling nations of Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Australia, GB, Colombia, Denmark in various Olympic disciplines have no one or next to no one in elite men's or women's 'cross. Team GB might be the next strongest challenger with Pidcock, Anna Kay and Evie Richards ... and even then, that's only 3 athletes and I think they'd be happy with any single medal against 14 Dutch and 14 Belgians.

Road/Track/MTB are much more diversely represented even if the Dutch and Belgians are still powerhouses.

[reuben]

Originally Posted by tctyres

That's nuts.
The course is complete snow. There are some track photos here: https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/val...oss-world-cup/

"...early winter snow falls have covered the track, with further falls of up to 40cm forecast before Sunday’s races."

[nalax]

Originally Posted by reuben

"...early winter snow falls have covered the track, with further falls of up to 40cm forecast before Sunday’s races."

The team who knows how to best wax their tires will have an edge. Nys' idea to take his team training instead might be a better idea.

[crankles]

Originally Posted by rain dogs

As much as I would love to see anything that heps cyclocross grow as a sport, I think the Olympic bid idea might be tough.

The IOC really shys away from sports dominated by one or two nations, and with few nations that participate at the elite level - and that's exactly 'cross is.

This is a Dutch and Belgian sport really. Sure, absolutely, there are riders from many nations, but the podiums in Elite womens would highly likely be entirely Dutch (save Blanka Vas (Hungarian) upending things) and the Men's would almost cetainly be just the Dutch and Belgians fighting it out.

Yes, there are riders like Rochette and Honsinger who could get lucky with the course and have a "legs of my life" day... but we're still talking what? 5, 6 nations with ANY real chance? Even the common points upperleaderboard cycling nations of Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Australia, GB, Colombia, Denmark in various Olympic disciplines have no one or next to no one in elite men's or women's 'cross. Team GB might be the next strongest challenger with Pidcock, Anna Kay and Evie Richards ... and even then, that's only 3 athletes and I think they'd be happy with any single medal against 14 Dutch and 14 Belgians.

Road/Track/MTB are much more diversely represented even if the Dutch and Belgians are still powerhouses.

There's a bit of a chicken/egg thing going on...*IF* it looks as if cyclocross has the possibility of becoming an olympic event, it opens the door for the various countries governing bodies to put some more money into development. Majority of USA Cycling money goes to the disciplines that have an olympic presence.

[Spaghetti Legs]

My guess is medal distribution wouldn't be any less diverse than what we see with cross country ski/biathlon events. Cyclocross makes even more sense now as actual natural snow at the Winter Olympics becomes less common. I think it would be good for cycling too as you might see some road riders dabbling to try to get a taste of Olympic medal.

[tctyres]

Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs

My guess is medal distribution wouldn't be any less diverse than what we see with cross country ski/biathlon events. Cyclocross makes even more sense now as actual natural snow at the Winter Olympics becomes less common. I think it would be good for cycling too as you might see some road riders dabbling to try to get a taste of Olympic medal.

The IOC's definition of a winter sport is fairly narrow: the sport needs to be competed wholly on snow or ice. The entire planet sees a winter season for 1/4 of the year, but most countries do not have snow or ice. Medals counts are dominated by countries in the northern hemisphere with budgets to invest in those sports.

Compare this with ball sports: soccer, volleyball, and basketball. All you need is a ball and a makeshift net of some sort. Those sports are far more inclusive.

[Elefantino]

Originally Posted by Spaghetti Legs

My guess is medal distribution wouldn't be any less diverse than what we see with cross country ski/biathlon events. Cyclocross makes even more sense now as actual natural snow at the Winter Olympics becomes less common. I think it would be good for cycling too as you might see some road riders dabbling to try to get a taste of Olympic medal.

A Cyclocross biathlon would make a great winter sport.

[BRad704]

Originally Posted by Elefantino

A Cyclocross biathlon would make a great winter sport.

Except you shoot target whilst still riding on the bike.

[BdaGhisallo]

I still can't wrap my head around CX getting a pass on the winter Olympic requirement for it a sport to be played on a snow or ice surface.

Sure, CX can happen in snow but it doesn't require it and how many elite races each season happen in snow? Figure skating, speed skating and cross country skiing can't happen without their snow or ice surface.

Would the IOC go for a sport that is only 100% sure to be conducted on snow in the actual Olympic games itself? How do they look past the gimmick that this weekend's CX World Cup race is and grant it some measure of legitimacy that would warrant inclusion with the other winter sports?

And it's not as if CX is a huge money sport that the folks at the IOC would see as ripe for exploitation when it comes to the typical corruption that occurs in the corridors of power surrounding big moneyed global sports.

[Gianni Bianchi]

With global warming how long will the winter olympics actually get natural snow? I mean, most events requiring snow is usually man-made and any ice related sport is on man-made, indoor ice.
So why not cross? To say it can't happen cuz it's dominated by two nations doesn't hold water because of XC skiing and Biathalon and sometimes Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined being dominated by two or three nations.
I'd love to see it made an olympic sport.

Food for thought though.. swimming, diving and basketball are all 'winter' seasonal sports... why not move them into winter so the pros can not disrupt their training to peak 'off season' in the summer?

[Onno]

XC and Biathlon are not dominated by two nations in the way that CX is. Sure, Norway does really well in both sports, but lots of countries have athletes who have won medals in the Olympics, and regularly take podium spots in World Cup races: US, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Germany, Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, France, Switzerland, Czech Republic, etc.

I'm hoping squash gets into the winter olympics!

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by Onno

I'm hoping squash gets into the winter olympics!

I think you meant pickleball.