To: All WTBA member federations
Date: March 3, 2015
RE: 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
Dear federations,
You may be aware that the IOC has recently taken steps that should increase the opportunities for bowling, and others like it, to become a sport in the Olympic Games. The IOC Session held in Monaco in December, 2014 unanimously approved all of the proposed provisions of Agenda 2020, a wide-ranging document that will substantially change the way the IOC conducts business. One of the provisions of Agenda 2020 provides that, while future Olympic Games will remain capped from a total athlete number of around 10500, in the future there will be no limit on the number of sports that can ne included; that number is currently 27. The theory is that some disciplines or events of sports currently included in the Games will be removed, and new sports added to take their place. The details of the process by which this may happen will be developed sometime this year by the IOC. As you know, we have been working on a plan of improvements to our sport and structure that are designed to improve our opportunities for future Olympic inclusion, so this development comes at an important time. We will share with you further developments in this process as they are announced.
As part of the Agenda 2020 announcement there were hints that future Olympic Games hosts would have the opportunity to request the additional inclusion, on a one-time basis, of a limit4ed number of sports for their Games only. Further clarity has been added by the IOC within the last few weeks. It appears that the Tokyo Organizing Committee (TOC) of the 2020 Olympic Games has been given the opportunity to request that the IOC include a small number of additional sports in the 2020 Tokyo Games. It now appears that the TOC will request to IOC that additional sports be added. The sports requested by TOC will be made public by August, 2015, and through a review process that has not yet been published, the IOC will recommend inclusion, or otherwise, to its Session in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016.
Kevin Dornberger, WTBA President and Mr Takeda, IOC member and President of the JOC
Upon the initiative of the Japan Bowling Congress (JBC), meetings were scheduled in January 2015 in Tokyo involving World Bowling, JBC, the Japan Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Organizing Committee. I met with the Japanese Olympic Committee and discussed the merits of bowling being in the 2020 Olympics with Mr. Takeda, IOC member and President of the JOC. I also met with Mr. Mori, President of the TOC. The JBC scheduled a press conference regarding our interest in being included in Tokyo 2020. More than 60 media members attended, including TV crews from the five major Japan television broadcasting companies. The media had many questions and comments and it was clear that they are familiar with bowling. Clips from the press conference were shown on all major stations the next day. The bottom line is, we have made our pitch to the JOC and TOC for bowling’s inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games. The determination of which sports will be requested is solely left to the host country; the number that Japan may request is unknown, but all the public information available indicates that it is “small”. We will share with you further developments in this process as well. In the event that bowling is one of the requested sports from the TOC to the IOC, we will need the assistance of all of you, our members, to be involved in an action plan developed by World Bowling that would be designed to move us from recommended to approved over the period of August 2015 to August 2016. I cannot adequately express my thanks to the JBC, which expended enormous energy and initiative throughout this process, they have been remarkable. Thank you President Takebe and the entire Board and staff of JBC.
In closing, I can assure you that World Bowling will continue in its efforts to constantly make improvements to our sport, so that our sport prospers, and might be recognized for inclusion into future Olympic Games.
Sincerely, Kevin Dornberger
President, World Bowling
president@worldbowling.org