World Bowling Focuses On Olympic Quest Beyond 2020

bowlingball.com 10/9/2015

LAUSANNE, - Following the announcement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Committee (TOC), World Bowling is saddened to announce that the sport of bowling has not been recommended for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Although this is a big disappointment, World Bowling fully respects the TOC's decision and believes that bowling's time to join the Olympic Movement will come sooner rather than later. The process undergone over the past few months was valuable and tangible recommendations will be taken away to strengthen the sport of bowling in the future. President Kevin Dornberger said "It was a great opportunity to have been considered as one of the final eight sports from the initial list of 26. For World Bowling this remains a huge milestone in pursuing our Olympic quest and we believe that this has laid the foundations for a brighter future ahead. The process has made our sport grow stronger and we have learned so many invaluable lessons from working on our campaign. While we may not have been successful this time, we will continue to develop our sport worldwide. As part of our Bowling World Plan, we have many initiatives still to be implemented such as fostering and encouraging the development of youth participation, especially for girls. We strongly believe that this will result in increasing the worldwide recognition of our sport. The brightest days of bowling are ahead of us!"

Along this journey World Bowling has received so much support from our partners, fans and athletes. This outpour of support has strengthened the bowling community and inspired new generations of athletes. We would like to thank all of the supporters for their commitment to the sport of bowling and of course we thank the TOC and wish them the very best for what we are certain will be excellent Olympic Games in 2020.

World Bowling will be welcoming a number of exciting events in the coming years including the Women's World Championships in Abu Dhabi in 2015 and the 2016 World Youth Championships and 2016 World Singles Championships.

The sports to be recommended to the International Olympic Committee for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo are baseball/softball, karate, roller sports, sport climbing and surfing.

Article was posted with permission from Stars & Strikes, America's Bowling Newsmagazine. www.starsandstrikesbowling.com