Sports go in and out of the Olympics due to popularity around the world. For the 2016 Olympics that are to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, rugby and golf will be added. This new addition to the Olympic venue isn’t the first since triathlon and tae kwon do were added for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Golf and rugby made their Olympic debuts in 1900 at the second modern games in Paris. After their debut golf was played at only one more Olympics while rugby made appearances at three more Olympics.
Rugby and golf were rejected for the 2012 Olympics yet no sports filled the hole in the Olympic venue after baseball and softball were dropped in 2005.
With two spots remaining unfilled, both golf and rugby were again nominated to fill the two openings. Both sports received a majority of the votes from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after the top players from golf and rugby made presentations in their respective sports.
Golf was approved with a vote of 63 in favor and 27 against with two absentees while rugby was approved with a vote of 81 in favor and eight against with one absentee.
Golf was accepted into the Olympics with very little room for modification and will consist of a 72-hole stroke play tournament for a field of 60 players for both women and men.
Rugby will consist of a four-day tournament. However, Olympic rugby will see a few modifications in the game with only seven players a side instead of the traditional 15 players a side.
Even though golf and rugby are set to become sports in the 2016 Olympics, some people still question the popularity of the two sports.
“I know I wouldn’t watch golf even in the Olympics,” senior Sammi LeGrand said. “I don’t think that anyone is really going to watch it unless they play golf.”
Some people unlike LeGrand have mixed feelings for the two sports. Senior Jack Harned thinks rugby should be an Olympic sport.
“Rugby is a sport that requires immense athleticism, and I think that those athletes should be rewarded by a chance to earn a gold medal,” Harned said.
However, Harned agrees with LeGrand and feels that golf is more of a hobby than a sport for several reasons.
“Golf is what old people do, not rugby,” Harned said.
Senior golfer Ryan Roth is ecstatic that golf will be featured in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“Golf is becoming an event because someone finally realized that it’s a legit sport, not just a hobby,” Roth said. “I think that it is ridiculous that sports like synchronized swimming were admitted to the Olympics before golf.”
Harned said the growing popularity is not the only driving reason behind the reappearance of these sports.
“The Olympics are a business just as much as anything else and by adding more sports, the Olympic committee and host country can make more money,” Harned said. “Although I would like to think the addition of these sports is to reward the athletes.”
The world will have to wait a while to see if the new sports are followed, a six year wait.  