Why is bowling not an Olympic sport?

Answer 1

The number of countries entered in a sport doesn't have anything to do with whether a sport is competed in the Olympics. Currently (after the 2008 Beijing Games) there are 26 Summer Olympic sports: Aquatics (Diving, Swimming, Synchronized swimming, and Water polo), Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Field Hockey, Football, Gymnastics, Handball, Judo, Modern pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Softball, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting, and Wrestling. Additionally, there are 32 sports which, while not competed in the Olympics, are considered Olympic sports by the International Olympic Committee: Air sports, Bandy, Baseball, Billiard sports, Boules, Bowling, Bridge, Chess, Climbing, Cricket, DanceSport, Golf, Karate, Korfball, Lifesaving, Motorcycle sport, Netball, Orienteering, Pelote Basque, Polo, Powerboating, Racquetball, Roller sports, Rugby, Softball, Squash, Sumo, Surfing, Tug of war, Underwater sports, Water skiing, and Wushu. The IOC includes sports in its program that they believe are widely practiced around the world and will draw a lot of viewers. The IOC meets and reviews the sports competed in the Summer Olympics after each Games. Members vote on the sports to be included at the SummerOlympics following the next Summer Olympics. Following the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, the IOC members met and voted to remove softball and baseball from the Summer Olympic program after the 2008 Games in Beijing. They voted not to replace them for the 2012 Games in London. The 26 sports listed above (Aquatics (Diving, Swimming, etc) will be those that will be competed at the 2012 Summer Games. The IOC will meet next year to determine the sports that will be competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics. So, a sport is included in the Olympics if the members of the IOC vote for it to be included and a sport is excluded if the members of the IOC vote for it to be excluded. Rule 48 of the Olympic Charter states that at least 15 sports must be included in the Summer Games and a maximum of 28 sports can be included in the Summer Games. This means there are currently two sports that could be included in the 2016 Games that are not currently in the Games. When the IOC meets next year (2009), in all probability, two of the 32 sports listed above (Air sports, Bandy, Baseball, etc) that are considered Olympic sports but not currently competed in the Olympics will be added.

Answer 2

Bulletball is a new sport/game that is not well know around the world yet. While it is becoming popular in the United States, and the UK (to a lesser extent) it needs to be played world wide to to considered for Olympic competition.

"A sport or discipline is included in the Olympic program if the IOC (International Olympic Committee) determines that it is widely practised around the world, that is, the number of countries that compete in a given sport is the indicator of the sport's prevalence."

Answer 3

Softball, as well as Baseball, aren't Olympic sports because they were unwanted by international sports officials who thought that these two sports were far too 'American' for the world wide sports competitions. These are the first two sports since polo (in 1963) to be eliminated from the games. Other countries felt that it was unfair that the Americans won 3 times in a row, seeing as it is a primarily 'American' sport.

Answer 4

Just as many other sports, each sport must petition the Olympic Sports Committee to get approval to be an Olympic sport. There is usually a political aspect to making this decision as well as the popularity of the sport.

Many countries, including the USA, have been petitioning the Olympic Sports Committee. Years ago, the US was not able to be considered eligible for Olympic participation in Bowling because there were three national organizations that governed bowling in the US (ABC, WIBC and YABA). In 2005, the three organizations merged to become the USBC, which will now allow the US to help work towards this goal.