Olympics: Dancers' hopes of quick steps to Athens are floored

By GEORGE PRESTON

LAUSANNE - The Olympic hopes of ballroom dancers and waterskiers were dashed yesterday when the International Olympic Committee ruled that no new sports would be included in the 2004 Athens Games.

In a break with recent tradition of adding new sports at each games, the IOC executive board upheld the recommendation of its programme commission to shut the door for 2004. The IOC has confirmed, however, that events which have had provisional status – women's softball, taekwondo, triathlon, beach volleyball and trampolining – will remain on the program in Athens.

The decision means there will be 28 sports contested in Athens, the same as in Sydney.

Waterskiing was one of the biggest losers from the decision, having waged an aggressive nine-year campaign to become an Olympic sport. Other sports which have been pushing for a place on the Olympic programme include rugby union, surfing, bowling, golf, squash and rollerskating.

"I'm profoundly disappointed," said Andres Botero, a Colombian who heads the International Waterskiing Federation. "I believe we did the right job. We developed our sport worldwide. I felt we deserved to be on the Olympic programme.

"We came out at the wrong moment when Athens was having organisational problems," Botero said. "Everything was going very well until Athens started to slow down. They're doing better now, but it was too late.

"The problem is the bus is full," he said. "If you invite somebody to the party, you should not push them out. You should just make more room. There is no clear rule how we can get on to the programme. For new sports, it's becoming almost impossible to get in."

The IOC's sports director, Gilbert Felli, said the decision to reject new sports was based on several factors, including the need to control the spiralling number of athletes and hold down costs.

Felli also cited the organisational troubles in Athens, where Olympic preparations have been hit by construction delays, political wrangling and staff shake-ups.

The IOC stressed the decision was only for 2004, leaving the door open to add or eliminate sports for the games of 2008 and beyond. The unwieldy size of the Olympics has become a major issue for the IOC. Many officials believe the time has come to scale down the size and scope of the Games.