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 | Planet Extras! | | Olympic Committee Sends Roller Sports a Second Questionnaire Federation Asked to Detail Continental Championships, Other Issues By Robert "Just the Factoids" Burnson The International Olympic Among the questions is a request for more detail about how skaters would be selected for the Games, said James Pollard, a member of the International Roller Skating Federation's Central Committee. Roller sports is one of five sports invited to submit proposals for the 2012 Olympic Games. The others are golf, rugby, squash and karate. "Just being on the list is fantastic," Pollard said. "But that they are asking more questions is also fantastic. ... It's when they are not asking questions that you have to worry." The federation has proposed two days of speed skating for the Games. The competitors would be chosen at five continental championships. (See last week's Planet story on the Olympic proposal.) Pollard said the Olympic Committee wants more information about how the championships would be organized. It also wants to know how the federation determined the number of skaters who would come from each continent. The federation proposed sending 20 skaters each from Europe, the Americas and Asia; eight from Oceania (Australia and New Zealand); and four from Africa. The federation roughly based the numbers on each continent's participation in world inline speed skating events. The new questionnaire also asks whether track or road races would be more suited to the Games, Pollard said. The federation's proposal calls for four closed-circuit road races with distances of 300 meters, 500 meters, 5 K and 20 K. It proposed road races so no new facilities would have to be built to accommodate roller sports. The Olympic Committee is scheduled to meet in July in Singapore to decide whether to add or subtract sports from its roster. The roller federation's secretary general, Roberto Marotta, informed members about the new Olympic questionnaire at their meeting Saturday in Rome. "Right now, we are doing a lot of lobbying," Pollard said. "We are all being urged to write letters and to get in touch with anyone we know on the Olympic Committee." (posted February 15, 2005) | Talk About this Story: • Roller Sports' Olympic Proposal Related Reading: | |||||||||
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