Bowling is one of the most popular sports globally, having many fans and enthusiasts who love to play and watch their favorite bowlers knock pins and get strikes. However, it is not featured in the biggest international sports event, the Olympics.
You might be wondering, is bowling an Olympic sport? Well, that is precisely what I am here to tell you.
In this article, I will talk about bowling’s inclusion in world sports tournaments, why bowling is not an official Olympic sport, and the reasons I believe that bowling should be an Olympic sport. So, sit back, relax, and read this article until the end.
Bowling in World Tournaments
Suppose you think bowling was never a part of the International Olympic Games. That is not how it is. In the 20th century, it was a part of the Olympics in the 1988 Summer Olympic Games, which is quite a long time after when bowling was invented. It was featured in many other international world sports tournaments as well if you are wondering. Let us look at the inclusion of bowling in world tournaments over the years.
Bowling in Paralympics
Although not considered a featured sport in the Olympics anymore, bowling has always played an extraordinary role in the Special Olympics, known as the Paralympics.
The game has been included in the Paralympics since the late 20th century and is still essential in the tournament. Special bowling greens were used in the past for the game in the contest to ease the incredibly professional players.
Bowling in Commonwealth Games
If you are wondering whether bowling is still a featured sport in the Commonwealth Games, unfortunately, that is untrue. However, bowling was necessary for the tournament over most of the 1990s.
The last time bowling was a part of the Commonwealth Games was in 1998. Commonwealth bowling championships were held after that, but the sport was not included in the Commonwealth Games again.
Why is bowling not an Olympic Sport?
Even for the 2020 Olympic Games, bowling was considered a choice of sport to be added around 2013; however, in 2015, the International Olympic Committee decided to ax the idea of including bowling in the Olympics 2020, which is to be held in 2021, and it has even been excluded from the 2024 Olympics. But why is that? You might be wondering.
According to the International Olympic Committee, bowling equipment, and alleys require many monetary resources, which is not easy for underdeveloped countries to utilize to provide proper training facilities to their young and interested bowling players.
Although controversial, this particular reasoning is considered the main logic behind bowling from the international Olympic Games. In addition, heartbreaking as it is, there are not much bowling enthusiasts can do about it. Therefore, finding ways of raising our voices and getting them heard is the way of rebellion we need to adopt.
Why bowling Should be an Olympic Sport
We bowling enthusiasts believe that ten-pin bowling should be an Olympic sport for many reasons. Here are some of the major reasons bowling should be included in the next Olympics.
Millions of Players
The first and foremost reason for including any game in the Olympics is crowd popularity. Hockey, wrestling, tennis, and many other games are featured in the international Olympic Games because of how famous they are and how many people are invested in them.
Well, bowling has more than 100 million followers worldwide, which is enough for it to be a good inclusion in international sports events, and 100 million people follow and love the sport for a reason.
Hundreds of Thousands of Bowling Lanes
It is considered that over 250 thousand bowling lanes and thousands of bowling alleys are operating worldwide. Especially in the United States region and the region of Europe, bowling is especially popular.
The sport can surely be televised more in underdeveloped countries, but by providing bowling a platform on the Olympic level, only people will notice the game and learn to play and love it.
Short Time Requirement
Many amazingly popular games worldwide are not included in the Olympics, and for a valid reason – they require a lot of time. Longer games would harm the International Olympic Games’ sophisticated and simple time frame.
Nevertheless, bowling is a short game requiring less than an hour to complete. In addition, I believe there are so many ten-pin bowling variations that anyone suitable for the Olympic level can be adopted and featured in the International event.
Competition
Competition and professionalism are significant in all sports around the world. If players are not skilled and the matches are not interesting, there would be no reason for them to be placed in an event as incredible as the International Olympic Games.
Bowling is a skill-requiring and technical sport that professionals are incredibly good at playing. That is why there is a lot of competition in the sport and why it is perfect to be included in the Olympics.
There are many other reasons, but I rest my case here simply by saying that bowling is a great sport and is perfect to be given the graceful opportunity of being featured in the upcoming Olympics.
Conclusion
Bowling is not an Olympic sport, but in the future, there are chances that it might feature in sports tournaments internationally. As bowling enthusiasts, we need to make our voices heard and keep practicing to become professionals.
We also need to establish more bowling alleys in underdeveloped countries and places where bowling is not very widely known so more people can learn to love the game.
With the recent advancement in the sport and its popularity, bowling is being noticed again, so we should hope for the best and get ready for bowling to be featured in these big events.
