An adventure sports guide to London 2012
Author: Phil |
Posted: 14th December 2011
London 2012 is fast approaching and many extreme sports fans will be heading to the English capital to soak up the atmosphere of the sporting extravaganza next summer. Here we look at which adventure sports will form part of next year’s Olympic Games and which sports have been controversially omitted:
Made the shortlist:
BMX
A total of 48 athletes will battle it out in BMX, which will be making only its second Olympic appearance after debuting at Beijing 2008. It’s fast, it’s furious and it’s bound to be a real crowd pleaser with some 6,000 fans expected to pack the velodrome.
Canoeing
The canoeing is divided into two events – the sprint and the slalom. It’s high intensity and high octane stuff and nearly 350 people are in with a chance of Olympic glory in the canoeing. The brand new Lee Valley White Water Centre will host both events.
Mountain biking
Fifty men and 30 women will be risking life and limb in the pursuit of Olympic success in the mountain bike competition. The sport has grown in stature since being added to the Olympic roster back in the 1990s.
Failed to make the shortlist:
Kitesurfing
Although it has been snubbed from the London 2012 schedule, kitesurfing officialsare hoping it could be in the running to be included in the events set to take place at Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Surfing
Unlike kitesurfing,surfing’sOlympichopes are extremely slim for at least the next decade. This follows the news that it will not be one of the sports included in the 2020 Olympic Games. It will get another chance in 2024, so here’s hoping it gets the nod at some point in the future.
Wakeboard
While surfing failed to make the cut for the 2020 Olympic Games, wakeboarding did.The profile of the sport is growing year on year and it will have to see off competitionfrom the likes of sport climbing, karate and squash if it is to become an Olympic event.
So, that’s a quick guide to what extreme sports fans can look forward to at London 2012. It promises to be a fascinating few weeks and plenty of Olympic records are expected to be broken. Speaking of records, Bingoport, the leading online bingo portal in the UK and Europe, has produced a special Bingo Olympics infographic packed with a few interesting stats. Check it out here.