As far as sporting events go, it doesn’t get much bigger than The Olympics, and with athletes and sportspeople from all four corners of the world performing on behalf of their respective countries, it’s a truly global event.
But, as popular as The Olympics are, there are some sports that are well loved by many, but which haven’t been included in the event. Check the list below to see if your top sport is featuring in this year’s Olympics in Paris, or not:
With its origins in Great Britain, cricket is now a global phenomenon, and one of the most watched sports, globally. And yet, it isn’t going to be featured in this year’s Olympic Games. That said, fans of the sport can look forward to women’s cricket featuring in the 2028 Olympics in L.A.
Associated with wealth and not exactly a mainstream sport, while polo has experienced an upsurge in popularity of late, there are still no plans to include it in the Olympic line-up.
Despite millions of people playing squash globally, all bids to have it included in The Olympics have thus far failed, but hope is on the horizon, as it’s set to be featured in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
This ancient game with its origins in Egypt, was introduced to the Olympics at the Seoul Summer Games in 1988, but with only a handful of countries participating, it has never made it back there.
While immensely popular as a spectator sport on TV, the absence of standardised scoring and the violent nature of the sport, have yet to see MMA feature as an Olympic event.
Although netball can be played by both men and women, it remains a sport largely participated in by women, and although it’s popular, the fact that the Olympic Committee strive to include sports that enjoy equal participation between the two sexes, means it hasn’t yet featured in the Games.
Although it was once an Olympic sport in the 1900’s, Lacrosse is no longer as popular as it once was on a global scale and hasn’t been a part of the Olympic Games since, although it enjoys significant participation in both the U.S. and Canada.
With surfing appearing in this year’s Olympic Games, fans of kiteboarding hope this might pave the way for the sport to be included in the future, along with other water sports. While regular championships on a worldwide scale are held for kiteboarding, it isn’t deemed viable for inclusion in the Olympics yet.
As snooker is predominantly a male sport, the Olympic Committee don’t consider it suitable for inclusion in the games, for much the same reason as netball hasn’t been considered.
There are hundreds of different sports played and watched around the world, and it stands to reason that not every one of them can be featured in The Olympic Games. But when even some of the most popular sports haven’t yet made it there, it’s easy to wonder if, and when, they ever will.
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