A little while ago I posted a blog about the mess with slopestyle qualifications for the olympics. If you’re not aware of the situation, I recommend you check it out first here: Riders Comment On Slopestyle In The Olympics
So here’s an update: Long story short, the FIS has rejected TTR’s proposal to setup a joint qualification for the Olympics.
What this means is that none of the top snowboard events like X-Games, Air & Style and Dew Tour will count for qualification towards the olympics, instead riders must attend FIS organized events and will possibly have to skip certain big snowboard events in order to qualify for the olympics.
Obviously, a lot of riders are angry. Check out their responses here: http://espn.go.com/action/snowboarding/story/_/id/7239781/snowboarders-react-fis-decision-olympic-boycott-horizon
There’s talk of boycotting the Olympics and I don’t blame the riders. I’m one of the more open minded people when it comes to injecting money in the sport and not staying ‘core’, but even I’m angry at the FIS decision.
Snowboard halfpipe is one of the most viewed sports in the Winter Olympics and they’ve shown no respect for the growth snowboarding has brought to them. Instead, they’ve just turned around and ignored everything the TTR has suggested for slopestyle.
Should snowboarders boycott the Olympics? Would we be able to get a large percentage of rider to boycott the Olympics?
Sebastian Toutant is right in that it would be a shame if only a few top snowboarders boycott the Olympics and others attend. Ideally, we want to give the public a good showing of the best slopestyle, but at the same time, it seems wrong to be used and abused by the FIS just to bring in ratings.
What do you think? Should snowboarders boycott the Olympics?