INTERVIEW: IOC chief on golf at Olympics

Joy Chakravarty 08:15 19/07/2015
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  • Tearing it up in Rio: Thomas Bach.

    There are quite a few question marks still hovering over golf’s participation in the 2016 Olympic Games. Two of the major issues that need to be resolved are the progress of the golf course, which has already faced numerous delays, and the fact that blood testing as part of WADA’s anti-doping is yet to be introduced in golf.

    There’s no better person to update the current status, as well as the future of golf in the Olympics after 2020 Tokyo (when it will be reviewed) than the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach.

    The 61-year-old German, a former lawyer and Olympics fencing gold medalist, was at St Andrews Saturday to watch the 144th Open Championship, and he spoke to the media about golf in the quadrennial Games. 

    Why was it important for the IOC to bring golf back to the Olympic Games? 
    I think it was an important step because of the growing worldwide representation of golf and the attractiveness to the viewer countries. You will see that in Rio we will most likely have among the 120 players, I guess we will have more than 40 different national Olympic committees, and this shows that golf is really spreading worldwide, which was the major reason for the IOC to have golf on the Olympic programme.

    With all the delays in the golf course design and construction, what are your views on Gil Hanse’s creation down there?
    What I’ve heard is very positive. I’m not the expert, so I asked the experts, and they all tell me that the players will love the course. This is most important.

    It is obviously a demanding course for Olympic standards. The landscape, the design, I think, is really fabulous, and we will see a great tournament on a really great golf course.

    It’s not only about the Olympics, it’s also for the time after, and having this Olympic golf course as the first public golf course in Rio de Janeiro I think is another great legacy of this Olympic Games.

    What does golf have to do to stay as part of the Olympic programme after 2020?
    Well, it’s a little bit early to say. Give the golfers a chance… maybe two chances. But it’s about having the best players in the world and the great competition, and then seeing and evaluating how attractive the golf tournament is on a worldwide scale.

    The Olympic Games are about the best athletes in the world coming together, and we do not need any additional spectacular or great action. To have good sport among the best athletes of the world, of course it would help golf.

    We want to get good worldwide distribution and also of the rankings, and for the International Golf Federation, it’s a unique opportunity to promote golf on a real worldwide scale. With this, you will have golf in more than 200 countries in the world.

    This will be a new experience for golf, to see how it does among all the other 28 sports in the Olympic programme. It will not to be on a standalone basis anymore, but being in the middle of a multi-sport event and having to find its role. But I’m very sure that golf will find its place. 

    – The Open: Sport360’s interactive guide to St Andrews course
    – R&A: Players hit out at decision to start play on day three
    – #360LIVE: The Open – Leaderboards, live updates and video

    What kind of reviews are you going to do after the competition? Are you perhaps looking at a match play competition in future?
    Actually, we are evaluating all the sports. Following our reform programme of Olympic Agenda 2020, not only every sport, but every event – that means all the 308 medal events we have now in Rio, they will all be evaluated individually after the Games, and then we will discuss with the relevant international federations.

    If there is a proposal, or if we think match play could be more interesting than the format we are going to have now, then we can still change for the Tokyo Olympics.

    What about the anti-doping rules for the Olympics?
    It is clear that the athletes will have to accept the Olympic standards during next year prior to the Games, and of course during the Games. That means, for instance, that during the Games, the first five will be tested on top of the random testing and the targeted testing during the Olympic period. They all have to accept it.

    Prior to the Games and from now on, I can only encourage the PGA Tour to follow the WADA code and to be compliant with this so that you have a harmonised anti-doping regime there for all the golf players and that you have an equal level of playing field for all the golfers.

    As it stands, Tiger Woods is unlikely to make it to Rio. Is that a blow to the IOC considering his pulling power and the fan interest?
    Well, it’s a pity for him. For the IOC, again, it’s about the best athletes, and we are happy to welcome them, whoever qualifies.

    With Tiger, I had the opportunity to speak with him earlier this year in the States when I met him and I asked him about Rio and told him that I would like to welcome you next year to Rio. Tiger said he’d love to play, and he will do everything to qualify, but I’m not sure whether it will work. So, I would really feel sorry for him, but this would in no way influence the quality of the Olympic tournament.

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