curling became a winter olympic sport in 1998.
when did curling become a winter olympic sport?
1998
although not an official demonstration sport, an international ski-orienteering event was held in sugadaira kōgen, japan, as part of the international cultural festival held in conjunction with the xviii winter olympic games in nagano in 1998. the international orienteering federation petitioned the international olympic committee in 2002 to include ski orienteering in the 2006 winter olympic games, noting that it could share the venue with the biathlon competitions. in its formal recommendation that ski orienteering not be included in those games, the olympic programme commission focused on a lack of participation in the sport outside nordic countries, "the challenges for broadcasters and spectators to easily follow the competition", and the costs associated with new technology and a new results system. in 2005, the international olympic committee confirmed that ski orienteering was under consideration for inclusion in the review process of the olympic sport program for the 2014 winter olympic games. on 28 november 2006, the executive board of the ioc decided not to include any new sports in this review process.
orienteering
the winter olympic games have evolved since their inception. sports and disciplines have been added and some of them, such as alpine skiing, luge, short track speed skating, freestyle skiing, skeleton, and snowboarding, have earned a permanent spot on the olympic programme. some others, including curling and bobsleigh, have been discontinued and later reintroduced; others have been permanently discontinued, such as military patrol, though the modern winter olympic sport of biathlon is descended from it. still others, such as speed skiing, bandy and skijoring, were demonstration sports but never incorporated as olympic sports. the rise of television as a global medium for communication enhanced the profile of the games. it generated income via the sale of broadcast rights and advertising, which has become lucrative for the ioc. this allowed outside interests, such as television companies and corporate sponsors, to exert influence. the ioc has had to address numerous criticisms over the decades like internal scandals, the use of performance-enhancing drugs by winter olympians, as well as a political boycott of the winter olympic games. countries have used the winter olympic games as well as the summer olympic games to proclaim the superiority of their political systems.
winter olympic games