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Australian pole vault legend Steve Hooker has defended the introduction of new sports and disciplines to the Olympic Games, arguing they support rather than detract from the mainstream program.
Announcements in recent years of new sports and disciplines joining the program have been met by praise but also backlash, with many people arguing in social media comment sections that the inclusion of sports such as breaking, skateboarding and sport climbing has stolen attention from the mainstream program and diluted the significance of the Olympic Games.
At Georges River 16ft Sailing Club in Sydney’s south on Tuesday, kite foil sailor Breiana Whitehead was announced as the third Australian selected for Paris 2024, at which the discipline of kite foiling will make its Olympic Games debut.
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“I love it [the new sports and disciplines]. I’m a big fan for two reasons,” Hooker told Wide World of Sports.
“One: I think the new sports are great, and I think in Tokyo [in 2021] we saw the best examples of Olympic spirit in sports like skateboarding and surfing, where the competitors competed with the right spirit, they competed with unity.
“They brought something really new and fresh to the Games.
“They also bring a new, young audience and that keeps the traditional sports relevant and keeps the Olympics relevant.
“So, I think on two levels it works really, really well.
“I’m excited to see the new sports and I’m excited to see the athleticism of breakdance in Paris.”
Breaking will make its Olympic Games debut at Paris 2024, before flag football and squash join the Los Angeles 2028 program.
LA ’28 will also see cricket, baseball, softball and lacrosse return to the Olympic Games.
In Hooker’s eyes, the luring of new audiences, such as the breaking, skateboarding and sport climbing fan bases, will get more people watching sports and disciplines that have been key since Athens 1896, the first edition of the modern Olympic Games.
“The more eyeballs on the Olympics, the more people watch athletics, is my short summary of that, and I want as many eyeballs on athletics, as I’m sure swimmers want as many eyeballs on swimming as possible,” Hooker said.
“The Olympics have got to continue to modernise in a number of ways: in the sports that are on the program, the way that it presents its sports, the way it runs Olympic Games, how lightly it can touch the planet and how it interacts with the communities in the cities and countries where it hosts Games.
“It has got to continue to evolve and it will, as it has. This is not a new thing, the Olympic Games evolving and modernising; it’s been constantly doing that ever since its inception. It will continue to do that and it will continue to be one of the most wonderful experiences where all of the globe gets to come together and unify around sport.”
The selection announcement of Whitehead on the Australian Olympic team followed those of marathon swimmer Chelsea Gubecka and canoe slalom champion Jessica Fox.
Hooker, the men’s pole vault gold medallist at Beijing 2008, is fascinated by Whitehead’s discipline of sailing.
The 41-year-old has been learning how to kite foil at Victoria’s Port Phillip Bay.
“In my old age I’m trying to take up a number of sports and I’m trying to learn how to wind foil currently, so I’m familiar with foiling and kite foiling,” Hooker said.
“That’s amazing technology. This foiling technology is going forward in such leaps and bounds.
“New sports are being created every day in that space that are really exciting to watch, really exciting to do, and it’s exciting that that’s taking place at the Games.”
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