If all goes well, the FIS will add another snowboard event to the schedule for the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006.
According to a report delivered to the International Olympic Committee’s executive board last month, Olympic Programme Commission Chairman Franco Carraro recommended "further review of Snowboard Cross in regard of inclusion in the programme of the XX Olympic Winter Games, Turin, 2006."
The report further lauded the sports for its "high appeal for spectators and broadcasters in the Olympic Programmes of 1998 and 2002, in particular with the youth group of 15-25 years old."
Other sports that were given a once over by the commission include Ski Flying, team luge, a mass start biathlon, natural track luge, ski mountaineering and ski orienteering. All were rejected except for snowboard cross.
The decision would be particularly fortunate for Canada, which boasts some of the top snowboard cross riders in the world.
Jasey-Jay Anderson has been the World Cup overall champion for the past two seasons and was the snowboard cross champion in 2001.
Drew Neilson was ranked second in the world in 2002, and was the 2000 Extreme Games champion. He also won the first World Cup snowboard cross of the season two weeks ago at Valle Nevado, Chile.
"This team will definitely receive a great boost of attention and funding should it be included in the Olympic program," said Martin Jensen, the director of the Canadian Snowboard Federation high performance program. The CSF currently fields a national team in the snowboard cross discipline on the FIS World Cup circuit with a lot of success.
"The CSF has been lobbying for this addition for some time," continued Jensen. "We have the best athletes and are looking forward to proving this to the rest of the world in Turin in 2006."
The discussion with the FIS over the qualification system and quotas is currently taking place. In November, the IOC will decide on the admission of new sports, if snowboard cross does receive a recommendation by the IOC executive board.
