IOC Adds Golf to 2016 Rio Olympics

IOC adds golf to 2016 Rio Olympics

October 9, 2009 - COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Golf and rugby sevens have been confirmed as new Olympic sports for the 2016 Games. The International Olympic Committee Friday voted in favor of both sports becoming part of the program in Rio de Janeiro and in 2020.

"Congratulations to both," said IOC President Jacques Rogge. "We all look forward to great competition in 2016 and 2020.''

Rugby had 81 votes in favor and eight against, and golf 63 in favor and 27 against. Each sport needed only a simple 51 percent majority for acceptance.

There was some opposition with Dick Pound, from Canada, arguing that the 106 members had not been given the opportunity to vote on the five sports including squash and karate that had been excluded earlier this year by the IOC's executive board.

"The fact is we were not allowed to consider all seven sports," he said. "That's a mistake, it's not fair to the other five sports, and because we do not know why this was decided it is not a transparent process. The session was asking for guidance not a decision that would be take it or leave it.''

Peter Dawson, acting president of the International Golf Federation, had to go on the defensive after American IOC member Anita DeFrantz questioned why golf clubs such as Augusta were allowed to be male only.

"We are aware that golf has a reputation for this but it is important to give the facts. We have 60 million golfers in the world, of whom 25 per cent are women," said Dawson, who is also the head of the R&A. "Single-sex clubs for men or indeed for women make up 0.5 per cent and is reducing, and inclusion in the Olympic Games will further consolidate the equality of the sport.''

Padraig Harrington and Michelle Wie both stressed that, given the opportunity, they would stay in the athletes' village during the Games.

"I can see nothing better than being in the Olympic Village, living there and experiencing what the athletes go through," said Harrington during golf's final 20-minute presenation. "That's the highest point of the Olympics apart from the competition.''

Both sports will be reviewed at the IOC session in 2017, the year after the Rio Games, before a final decision is taken that they can take part in 2020, too.

The International Golf Federation had put a lot of effort into stressing the expansion of the women's game, and the sight of the 6-foot-1 Wie at the IOC Session certainly captured the attention of the usually-staid members.

Harrington and Suzann Pettersen also flew in to talk at Friday's final presentation, while members were shown a film of Ernie Els and Tiger Woods giving their support, as both golf and rugby sevens made their final pitch before the vote.

Dawson also stressed that golf would clear its calendar of major events during the Games.

''We have given a commitment that we will not stage any major championships or significant events against the Olympic dates,'' Dawson said.

There would be 60 golfers in each of the men's and women's 72-hole stroke-play tournaments based on world rankings. The top 15 would all compete and beyond that no more than two players from any one country.

"I think it would be the highest achievement for any golfer, or for any athlete, to be part of the Olympics," Wie said. "When you represent your country, when you carry the American flag, it takes me to a whole other place. It makes the event so much more remarkable. It just means so much more to me."

Pettersen said she has been dreaming about competing in the Olympics since watching the games as a child, but that she never expected to get the chance as a golfer.

"I think the ultimate would be to win a gold medal and stand on that podium and hear the national anthem," she said. "That would be quite unique for us, because that's something that never, ever happens in our daily lives."

The 28-year-old Pettersen said the status of the Olympics would be even higher with the younger generation of golfers.

"You will have kids starting to play golf these days who, if we do get in, will have the Olympics as their main goal," she said. "If I was to start playing golf now, if I was 5 years old today and I knew that I could potentially take part in the Olympics, that would be the drive."

Golf has only been played in two previous Olympiads -- in 1900 in Paris and in 1904 in St. Louis.

PA Sport and the Associated Press contributed to this report.