A recent
decision by the International Olympic Committee to formally recognize the
International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) as the sole governing body
for climbing on artificial surfaces puts the sport on a par with swimming or
even hockey, says Dave Dornian, chair of Competition Climbing Canada (CEC),
Canada’s national sport climbing organization.
The
official recognition, which was announced in December, also brings competition
climbing one step closer to being included in the Olympic Games, he added.
“We really
have just one step left to go,” Dornian said. “Competition climbing needs to be
voted in by the IOC program committee as part of the next Olympic Games that
aren’t finalized yet.”
Those
Games, he said, are in 2014.
“Competition
climbing has now been accepted and recognized by the IOC, as one on the list of
sports that are eligible,” Dornian explained. “That means it is now a peer with
swimming, sailing, tennis (and) even hockey.”
One of the
criteria for receiving that recognition was that the sport be practiced in a
sufficient number of countries – more than 70. Organized competition climbing
is popular in many European nations, as well as much of Asia and North America.
It is part of several multi-sport games, including the Asian Games and the
World Games.
“We
probably have more countries than swimming,” Dornian said. “Climbing meets all
the criteria for number of countries, and it continues to grow.”
As the
governing body for the sport of competition climbing in Canada, the CEC, which
is a member of the IFSC, ensures its athletes follow international regulations,
including anti doping rules. It is also charged with forming national teams and
arranging for those teams to participate in international competitions.
And, in the
case of seeing competition climbing among the sports represented at the
Olympics in the future, official recognition is an essential step.
"The
CEC is a national sports federation, just like Alpine Canada,” Dornian said.
“What this (recognition) means for us is that we can now approach Sports Canada
and the Canadian Olympic Committee for parallel recognition for our athletes
and programs.” Currently, the CEC, which also happens to be the only
non-geographical section of the Alpine Club of Canada, includes an adult team,
which fluctuates between 10 and 20 members over the age of 16, and a youth team
with 24 to 30 members between the ages of 13 and 19. While some members of the
youth team are younger than 13, they are not recognized internationally.
Along with
the youth team members, Dornian said, comes a group of active and enthusiastic
adults who serve on the committee, including many parents who are passionately
involved.
“Competition
climbing is not as big with adults,” Dornian said. “Youth teams are a bigger
deal in North America, everyone’s into sports for kids. It’s harder to promote
adult competitions. And parents love to see kids with medals around their
necks.”
As such,
Dornian, a lifelong climber and Calgary native, said he believed competitive
climbing at the youth level has the best chance of driving the change within
the IOC necessary to welcome competition climbing into the Games.
“We’ve been
putting it forward and talking about it as an urban sport, a youth sport,”
Dornian said.
That
approach might just lead the sport to become part of the inaugural Youth
Olympic Games, set to debut in 2010, with a host city to be decided next month.
The games will welcome athletes aged 14 thru 18 competing in summer and winter
events, which will alternate every four years, like the Olympic Games. The
summer events will take place over 10 days with about 3000 athletes, while the
winter games will host 1000 athletes competing over seven days. Compared to the
Olympics, the Youth Olympics will focus on education above competition.
“And the
Youth Olympics will have will have different sports than the big ponderous
traditional Olympics,” Dornian added.
At present,
the IFSC speaks formally with the IOC a couple of times a year, and informally
several more times. Representatives of the IOC are invited to competition
climbing events, and even used as consultants. As well, the IOC now provides a
small amount of funding for development of competition climbing, and other
purposes.
For the
most part, however, Dornian said right now it’s a matter of waiting for the
sport to go through the IOC political process.
“It’s a
complex political course to navigate,” Dornian said. “The Summer Games can’t
get any bigger, and with Winter they’re trying to keep the games linked to ice
and snow. This is my opinion, but I think the IOC would love to see more sports
in the Games with the same number of athletes overall, and maybe eliminate
repetitive events within the same sports. With the Olympics, we’re probably
going to see a revolution from within. There is no date set for sport climbing
at the Olympics yet, but political pressure is building. Though it will take
some work before we are actually watching climbers under the rings, I'm
confident that it will only be a matter of time."