Why isn't darts an Olympic sport?

[METALMICKY]

Haven't we missed a golden opportunity to have the name of Phil 'The Power' Taylor up there along with our Olympic legends such as Hoy & Redgrave.

Now i'm no great fan of darts but what is the case for shooting being a more valid olympic sport? Neither require any great level of physical fitness since the pivotal skill is hand eye coordination.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

If they did it in the snow and called it "ice darts" it'd probably get in the Winter Olympics.

 

[bhadiv1]

Because to be considered as an olympic sport in the summer games the following criteria needs to be met.
a) played in 75 OOC countries and in at least 4 continents (I think it's 40 counties and 3 continents for women, and less for winter olympics).

 

[Without Limits]

Ancient games were all based on things that help in war. Spear throwing, grappling and running. Shooting is a modern war activity. I don't think darts is quite the same.

I know some modern sports are not linked like table tennis etc. but darts is hardly a active sport.

 

[SeagullSongs]

All of the top 16 darts players in the world (according to the WDF) are from either Great Britain or the Netherlands.
9 of the top 10 are from England.

Seems a little too unbalanced to me, although I wouldn't put it past Korea or China producing some great darts players if it was introduced to the Olympic program.

 

[El Sid]

I like the idea of paint-ball style poisoned blow darts - most kills gets gold etc....

 

[bbranni]

This is something that I mentioned to friends recently, how on earth are "sports" like Dressage in the Olympics but Darts and Snooker are overlooked? I'm not a big fan of either but it would hopefully result in a few more golds and better entertainment than dancing horses. (No offence to any lovers of Dressage, I can imagine it's extremely difficult, but I guess a lot of it comes down to the horse and like I said not my cup of tea.)

 

[7:18]

what about snooker/pool?

 

[Easy 10]

Pub games are not allowed in the Olympics. Its the law.

 

[Sussex on Leith]

Pub games are not allowed in the Olympics. Its the law.

Works the other way round too, I've lost count of the number of pubs I've been barred from for attempting the 3000 metre steeplechase.

 

[Butch Willykins]

Chair luzzing should definitely be in there.

 

[SeagullSongs]

If I buy a pub and make table tennis a reknowned sport there, can we use that as an excuse to get table tennis out of the Olympics (I actually love the game) to deny China 4 gold medals?

 

[Greg Bobkin]

This is something that I mentioned to friends recently, how on earth are "sports" like Dressage in the Olympics but Darts and Snooker are overlooked? I'm not a big fan of either but it would hopefully result in a few more golds and better entertainment than dancing horses. (No offence to any lovers of Dressage, I can imagine it's extremely difficult, but I guess a lot of it comes down to the horse and like I said not my cup of tea.)

Just what I was thinking. I'm surprised Barry Hearn hasn't suggested it as part of his plans for worldwide snooker domination.

 

[Hillian1]

If I buy a pub and make table tennis a reknowned sport there, can we use that as an excuse to get table tennis out of the Olympics (I actually love the game) to deny China 4 gold medals?

I would rather you filled your pub with sand and got horses to mince around it. Get Horse Mincing OUT of the Olympics.

 

[SeagullSongs]

I would rather you filled your pub with sand and got horses to mince around it. Get Horse Mincing OUT of the Olympics.

It's on.

 

[murciagull]

Wasn,t bowls in the Olympics at one time, whatever happened to that?

 

[Hillian1]

Wasn,t bowls in the Olympics at one time, whatever happened to that?

All the players died of old age.

 

[perseus]

Stuck at Bronze (was sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence)

What about Golf ?

Was Alexandra the Great defreated by a squadron of BMX bikes?

Angling ? Chess ? Morris Dancing (syncronised) ? Slow Bicycle Race ...

And as for the Mountain Bike Race, they did not have many moving obstacles like joggers, invisible dog leads, mobility scooter (grumpy old men armed with walking sticks). They did not have to heave their bike over any stiles or go through narrow twitten where the thorns rip you and the tyres to pieces or navigate through a huge bed of stinging nettles .....

getting distracted again: Golf would be much more exciting for spectators if their were vipers in the sand pits, bears in the rough (not teddies grizzly ones) and crocodiles in the water hazards ... and livewire dragons and cat weasels at Hole 19 (that ones that got the Tiger).

Bring on the Gladiators. Why the Roman sports were popular than the Greeks ...

 

[halbpro]

It would appear that snooker could move into the Olympics fairly rapidly as the IOC recognise the governing body. The governing body would have to petition the Olympics when a spot opens up. There are, at least by a quick reading of the Olympic charter, only ever likely to be 3 spots open at one time as the limit is 28 and they have a "core" program of 25 sports which are always included. They can of course lower the number of these "core" sports, but it would require the IOC to change the charter. Anyway, when a slot opens up the governing body (or International Federation as the charter calls them) has to petition to be considered. This seems to be what happened after baseball and softball were removed in 2005, and as a result we're getting golf and rugby sevens in 2016. Originally karate, squash and roller sports also bid for a sport but were unsuccessful.

Anyway, if a slot in the 28 opens up again there's no reason why snooker couldn't petition for inclusion. The darts governing body isn't currently recognised (I don't know why), so they'd have to fulfil whatever requirements the IOC has for recognising a governing body before they could bid on an open slot.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Because to be considered as an olympic sport in the summer games the following criteria needs to be met.
a) played in 75 OOC countries and in at least 4 continents (I think it's 40 counties and 3 continents for women, and less for winter olympics).

Kite-boarding?