Korfball has been a demonstration sport at the Olympic Games but has not yet made the step up to full Olympic status, although it is an IOC recognised sport. It is also a sporting event at the World Games, which are the "Olympics" for all the sports that are not contested in the Olympic games. The World Games are organised and governed under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

So, why isn't korfball part of the Olympics? Part of the reason is that it doesn't meet one of the criteria for being considered an Olympic sport which states a sport must have 75 national federations and 4 continents for the men (40/3 for the women). Korfball only has 54 members.

Another reason is that the IOC has decided to cap the number of participants to 10,500 and the number of Olympic sports to 28. London 2012 had 26 different sports; baseball and softball were dropped by the IOC two days after London won the bid to become host city. Golf and rugby sevens will be added for Rio 2016, with windsurfing being replaced by kitesurfing.

Even though korfball wasn't a part of London 2012, it didn't stop a couple of CKC players taking part. Jon Dean was a torchbearer (pictures here) and Stephanie Robinson Cutts was an ambassador.

The full list of sports at London 2012 was:
Aquatics
Athletics
Archery
Badminton
Basketball
Boxing
Canoe / kayak
Cycling
Equestrian
Fencing
Football
Gymnastics
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Modern pentathlon
Rowing
Sailing
Shooting
Table tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball
Weightlifting
Wrestling


Report by: Andy


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SicknoteTentative08 Aug 07 12:11
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