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Rogge says wushu no "Olympic sport" in 2008
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-16 16:05
Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said
in Shanghai on Sunday that the martial art of wushu will not become an
Olympic sport or an exhibition sport in the 2008 Beijing Games.
"We are not introducing Wushu into the Olympic program. It will not be an
exhibition. Not at all," said Rogge, who is on a visit of the Formula One race
of the Chinese Grand Prix, his first time to watch a F1 race.
But to comfort the Chinese organizers, who have been trying hard in the past
decade to persuade the IOC to accept wushu as an official Olympic event, Rogge
said that there will be an international wushu competition organized by the
Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG).
At the same time, Rogge, who came to China early this week to attend the
opening ceremony of the 10th Chinese National Games held in Nanjing about 300
kilometers away from here, pointed out that wushu will neither be an exhibition
event nor an Olympic sport.
"There will be no demonstration or exhibition sport in the 2008Olympic
Games," he told Xinhua.
When asked if there is any possibility for wushu to become a medal event in
future Olympic Games beyond 2012, Rogge said: "No one can predict the future. I
am not going to make long-term prediction on the future. But today I can tell
you that we have made decision about the 2012 Games. But after 2012, we have not
made decision."
The IOC has capped the number of official events at 28.
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