Random thought time:

With the UCI taking it on there is a chance this is going to explode worldwide in the near future with worlds championships, UCI points etc. So, could it be a possibility say 2 Olympics from now?

I see issues with televising it well but with clever timing etc and multiple people out on stage it could be quite interesting. By the time this may happen wireless gopros could probably be televised!

It my be easier to stage than DH which requires such specific landscape/infrastructure and the bike industry will probably back it as it sells expensive bikes like hot cakes.

What are your views? 🙂

Agree if done properly it would be a better spectator sport than XC and easier to implement than DH but given the IOC already think there are too many cycling events I can’t see it happening any time soon (without losing BMX or something to make up for it).

Well Enduro is not a World Championship event, so it won’t happen – or at least not in the next 12 years.
Cross Country Eliminator has more chance of replacing XC, but to be honest I want XC to stay.

If it’s a question of “suitability”, well, if synchrionised swimming and horse dancing is acceptable then anything goes!

More seriously though, in my opinion Olympic cycling is too track focussed.

I’d like to see an Olympic DH event, and perhaps a dirt jump event.

I don’t ride DH or DJ, I just think they’re a better spectator spectacle than XC or Enduro.

I just think they’re a better spectator spectacle than XC or Enduro.

agree. I’ve ridden a couple of Enduros and as much fun as they are to ride, they are shit to watch

Can’t see it making the olympics, nor can I see how it would be easier to implement, or interesting to watch. Just seems pretty pointless (as an olympic event). You’ve currently got non timed ascents – so you can pretty much rule them out, which leaves you with downhill sections, which is well, downhill racing.

Rock climbing would be a much better bet for the olympics. Good spectacle and easy to put on.

For me both riding and spectating on tv are all about the landscape and terrain. The TDF has the best riders but then so do the other grand tours. The TDF route always has beautiful surroundings to feast your eyes on(even when the stages is in flat terrain heading for a bunch sprint.)
I like riding MTB XC trails for days out, so of course I watched the Olympic XC. I should have enjoyed it even more than road cycling, but I didn’t cos doing short repetitive loops of that very artificial looking circuit was just Dull Dull Dull.
The olympic organisers should take lessons from the Downhill Marathon events on Extreme Sports – there’s loads of excitement there and lots fabulous natural terrain to see. Make it a bit pedally with climbing roughly equal to descent and some stunning terrain to look at and you’ve got a winner.

I’d love to see DH in the olympics. I think 4X would be a winner but I expect to the untrained eye it’s no different to BMX.

So not suitable because of being hidden in the trees? Probably true as they have had to put so much into XC to make it viewable.

Never thought about climbing in the Olympics.

The XC eliminator thing’s good fun and can be put on just about anywhere. But yep- enduro’s great to do but crap to watch. It doesn’t have to be in a forest though but even then camera coverage would be a nightmare too.

IanMunro’s point is absolutely spot on though, when you stop to think of it, it’s kind of mad that climbing isn’t already in. Photogenic, accessible, easy to broadcast…

Enduro has no chance of getting on the Olympic schedule the sport needs mass appeal and these days needs to be TV frindly and fit nicely in a sensible time frame….

XC is the “Right” sort of Fit for the Olympic, Relatively straight forwards to cover and, easy for the public to understand, Why mess with success?

MTB is a pretty young sport to have gained any sort of inclusion in the Olympics (it’s been in since Atlanta ’96 hasn’t it?) Look how much longer it took for BMX to get taken up, that is a slightly older and arguably more TV friendly sport…

Enduro, Gravity Enduro, DH, 4X all of them are a touch too niche and dificult to Present or for Non-MTBers to understand IMO, forget it…

Trials though, that could make a good addition, and is different enough from all the other cycling disciplines that I think it might just work…

I don’t think downhill’s at all hard to understand, my mum likes watching it! Bomb down a hill as fast as you can, trying not to die.

i have had similar thoughts, and concluded it won’t happen. the xc courses have been modified in the time the event has been in the olympics to make them more tv and spectator friendly- see shorter lap times, shorter *race* times, and maximum camera coverage. complaints about the Beijing course and lots of trees were numerous. look at the world cup xc rounds, val d’isere this year had a massive climb, a massive descent and was what we might call ‘proper mountainbiking’ to a large degree. cameras couldn’t see jack shit, long lens stuff from rostrums due to steepness of hill and tree coverage meant remote cameras wouldn’t work.

as much as i think an enduro or perhaps more likely a DH would be good, you then have to think of the logistics for the host country. where would it be held to guarantee a decent course worthy of an olympic medal? where would it have been done at the london olympics? fort william? not really part of the ‘london’ olympics then is it? i know they did sailing at weymouth, but the sailing always gets done elsewhere to a degree… and there was enough negative reaction to getting the xc out in essex.

have to disagree about the london olympic xc, i thought it looked the best xc coverage and race we’ve seen for a good while, and i was sceptical about how it would look on tv.

Trials though, that could make a good addition, and is different enough from all the other cycling disciplines that I think it might just work…

Think I’d rather watch live horse-dancing 😯

1 – For anyone calling it “horse dancing”, go and try dressage.
2 – If there’s to be another MTB event in the Olympics it will be
A – DH – Fast, simple, easy to televise and arrange.
B – 4X – See how successful boardercross and skicross has become? Well, there you go.

CaptainFlashheart – Member
1 – For anyone calling it “horse dancing”, go and try dressage.
2 – If there’s to be another MTB event in the Olympics it will be
A – DH – Fast, simple, easy to televise and arrange.
B – 4X – See how successful boardercross and skicross has become? Well, there you go.

1 – No one is saying it’s easy, and it is dancing horses regardless
2 – 4X – no point is having 2nd tier BMX racing when you already have first tier. 4X would just look slow and shit in comparison (which it is)

4X isn’t even a World Cup MTB event, no chance of it in the olympics.
DH will never be in the Olympics either, where would they have a world class event in London, or Athens or Sydney? There are not many major cities around the World capable of holding a DH race.

No DH because …

The IOC has a strong preference for the events to be close to the host city, most host cities are not going to have suitable terrain close by (as per @mtbmatt).

Also the IOC likes events with lots of spectators, hard to get that many round a DH track

FWIW;

I think dressage is more interesting than XC MTB racing.
I’d rather see more track cycling events than XC MTB.
I’d be in favour of 4X but agree it looks to much like BMX to the IOC
Some sort of pump track/dirt jump contest would be interesting