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 | Planet Extras! | | So What Will It Look Like If Roller Sports Makes It Into the 2012 Olympics? Roller Sports Proposes a Short Program of Outdoor Speed Skating (Part 2) Figure skating was rejected because the Olympic Committee has indicated that it prefers sports in which there are clear cut winners, Wahlig said. "They are looking for sports where the person who comes across the line first is the winner, not subjective sports." The Olympics has been stung by criticism in recent years over controversies in which judges in gymnastics and ice figure skating were accused of playing favorites. Little Subjectivity in Roller Proposal The four events proposed by the roller federation don't leave much room for subjectivity. The 300 meter event is a time trial. Each skater would race alone against the clock, similar to a skier in a downhill race. The 500 meter race would be conducted in heats of about six skaters each, depending on the width of the racecourse. Top skaters in each heat would advance to the semifinals and then the finals. The 5 K would be a pack race which would start, most likely, with two heats of 16 skaters each. The top eight skaters in each heat would advance to the finals. The 20 K Elimination The final event, the 20 K elimination, would have all the skaters of each gender starting together. After several laps, depending on the length of the track, the last skater to cross the finish line would be eliminated. Subsequently, the last skater to cross the finish line at the end of each lap would be eliminated. Finally, with three laps to go, five skaters would be left to battle for the gold. (Sounds like a good TV event to me!) Artistic Chair Praises Proposal Some roller hockey and artistic skaters may feel slighted by roller sport's proposal. But not James Pollard, who is president of the federation's artistic committee. "They did a nice job with this proposal," said Pollard. "They had a good idea of what would work. "You have to look at it realistically." (Talk About this Story: Roller Sports' Olympic Proposal)
| Talk About this Story: • Roller Sports' Olympic Proposal Related Reading: | |||||||||
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... Copyright © 2005 by Robert Burnson | |||||||||||||
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