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.