Why The Olympics Aren't Fair

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has long been criticized for its Western Europe-centric orientation, a bias that influences the selection of sports offered in the Olympics. Since its inception, the IOC has primarily been led by presidents from Western Europe or the United States, which has contributed to a cultural skew in the sports recognized and promoted by the Olympic Games.

This bias is evident in the inclusion and exclusion of certain sports. For example, ice hockey, a sport with strong ties to North America and Western Europe, has been a staple in the Winter Olympics, while bandy, a sport similar to ice hockey and widely regarded as Russia's national winter sport, remains marginalized. Bandy's absence from the Olympics highlights the IOC's preference for sports rooted in Western culture, despite bandy’s significant following in Russia and Scandinavia.

Similarly, in the Summer Olympics, sports like Kabaddi, which boasts immense popularity in the Indian subcontinent, have struggled to gain recognition. Kabaddi is deeply embedded in the cultural fabric of countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, yet it is overlooked in favor of sports with stronger Western European or American roots.

This imbalance suggests that the IOC's sport selection process is heavily influenced by the cultural preferences of its leadership, leading to an Olympic program that does not fully reflect the diverse athletic traditions of the world. As a result, the global representation in the Olympics remains incomplete, leaving many culturally significant sports on the sidelines.

[_magnify]

Here is the list of countries whose national sports are not in the Olympics:

Argentina - Pato
Chile - Chilean Rodeo
Colombia - Tejo
Mexico - Charrería
Philippines - Arnis
Puerto Rico - Paso Fino
Uruguay - Destrezas Criollas
Afghanistan - Buzkashi
Bangladesh - Kabaddi
Brazil - Capoeira
Cambodia - Bokator
Indonesia - Pencak Silat
Ireland - Gaelic games
Malaysia - Sepak Takraw
Peru - Paleta frontón
Romania - Oina
Russia - Bandy
Saudi Arabia - Camel racing, Falconry
Tajikistan - Gushtigiri
Thailand - Muay Thai
Turkey - Cirit, Oil wrestling

[anyjen]

To be fair, I'm from Argentina, and I've never watched a game of Pato. It's a very niche sport for very wealthy people and it isn't even televised 99% of the time. The people who made it a national sport were very wealthy people a long time ago without taking into consideration how many people were actually playing it. It was their favourite game, so they decided unilaterally to make it official.

[pplord]

Wait until this guys hears about the Winter Olympics

[eyesinthecorner]

I mean, the real reason why the us and China always dominate the top spots of the medal tables is because they both are large wealthy countries with lots of people and resources to put into preparing for the games, rather than what events are included. Event accessibility bias I feel is a lot more prominent in the winter games where most countries don’t even have access to half of the terrain required to practice many winter sports, and if they do it’s often incredibly expensive so very much has a certain biased barrier of entry.

[Tomato-kplc]

Here’s a fun fact. Australia’s national sport (Cricket) last played in the 1900 summer Olympic is supposed to have a come back in the 2028 summer olympics

[Jordanno]

To be fair, it does originate from Europe. At any rate, I would totally watch sumo wrestling at the Olympics!

[igakierczak]

To be fair, sumo has such deep roots in Japanese culture it used to actively discriminate against foreginers. Also, not many other countries have sumo centers at all (mostly places with a large Japanese minority). So, not much fun for an internarional event

[maximegodbout]

The longest serving IOC president was actually French and served for 29 years vs 20 years for the American one

[albertbraun]

To be fair, you can't play ice hockey in the summer. Ice hockey is part of the Winter Olympics.

[davidkinsey]

By IOC rules, a sport must be played in several countries in order to be an Olympic sport. This explains why many national sports are not included in the Olympics.

[AndersonBishop-krto]

I think the problem with adding more niche sports from different countries is that they don’t have enough international participants to compete in it. It’s not a bias necessarily, just not enough people to actually play it.

[thekyler]

The lack of representation for obscure sports should be the least of anyone's concerns when it come to the IOC.

[geisaune]

Okay but a major reason why sports like Pato, Sumo wrestling, the Gaelic games, or freaking camel racing aren’t in the Olympics is the very reason why those sports are the national sport of those countries: THEY’RE NOT POPULAR ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD. If you put them in the Olympics, only one or two countries are going to dominate, or maybe even compete.

I’m American. The national sport of America, baseball, which you didn’t include in your list in the comments, used to be in the Olympics. But now it’s not because it’s only a popular sport in the U.S., Central America, Japan, and South Korea. Pretty much no one else plays it, so it makes sense that it’s not in the Olympics.

[gokublack]

1. Invent a sport
2. No one plays it
3. Declare world championship
🇺🇸 🔫 🦅 🔫

[NoFlu]

>"For swiming you need these large facilities in urban centers"
>"Why isn't this obscure sport included that requires horses for every player and a massive field"
Geez, one of these sports seems way less accessible and it isn't the one that requires a pool full lf water

[Snookbone]

Imagine trying to claim you have the complete list of national sports missing and not including cricket

[cinnamon]

In order to have a sport in the Olympics many countries need to have that sport. It's the sane reason cheerleading isn't there because it's mostly only done in America

[Iron]

That's why IOC Don't allow Kabbadi game but allow break dance.

[luism]

There will never be another traditional Japanese martial art represented in the olympics because many of the federations in charge of Japanese Budo “sports” want to protect the way the sports are done from changing the same way judo has changed due to influence from being included in the olympics. For example, the blue judo gi was introduced in the Olympics so that viewers could tell the opponents apart from each other. It’s not traditional. In particular, the kendo federation doesn’t want the sport to evolve the same way traditional fencing has to become sleek and technologically integrated. It takes away from the budo practice. Sumo can only be done in sacred arenas blessed by priests, and women aren’t allowed to step foot in those arenas. It was controversial when a sumo wrestler collapsed and a female doctor rushed to help him and was reprimanded for setting foot in the arena.
Most of the sports represented in the Olympics might be American or Eurocentric, but some of the other national sports found around the world may have a large group of people who don’t want to see that event or practice change into some regulated sporting event just for spectacle. Some of them are sacred, and some aren’t done to determine winners or losers.

[colebevans]

Wow an event that started in Europe features mostly European events. Who woulda thought…