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Pool’s Olympic Bid Fails

The organizing committee for Paris 2024 released a press kit on its recommendations to the International Olympic Committee. The committee recommended break dancing, surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing. Other sports that were included as “finalists” were baseball, squash and karate.

In recent Summer Games, the IOC has allowed the host country’s organizing committee to propose new sports. Baseball and karate will be included in the Tokyo 2020 Games, along with surfing, sports climbing and skateboarding. The Paris 2024 Organizing Committee recommended the four sports to “emphasize its goal of creating spectacular, urban and sustainable Games. These will not only provide a fitting showcase for athletic performance but also engage young people and the wider public through lifestyle sports.” The World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS), the world governing body for all billiard sports and a member of the IOC, launched an effort to have billiards included in 2024 by forming a Billiards 2024 Committee. The committee hosted a press conference to announce its intent at the Eiffel Tower in Paris in early December. The WCBS also launched an online petition to demonstrate the sport’s worldwide appeal. The World Snooker Federation (snooker), World Pool-Billiard Association (pool) and World Billiard Union (carom) make up the WCBS.

Billiards 2024 Committee Coordinator Jean-Pierre Guiraud was not available for comment at the time of this post. More information will be released as it comes in.