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The International Olympic Committee is looking
into barring "wild cards" from future Olympic games.That means that
athletes such as Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards, Eric the Eel, and Philip
Boit, the Kenyan skier unfamiliar with snow, could be a thing of
the past.
No more Erics or Eddies
The IOC president, Jacques Rogge, said his
intention is to put an end to such renegade fun because he believes
the likes of Edwards - famous for his inept ski jumping at the 1988
Winter Games - are making a mockery of the competition. According
to Mackay, he IOC, chastened by the performance of Eric "the Eel"
Moussambani, who swam one of the slowest races in Olympic history
at Sydney in 2000, will no longer offer wild cards to smaller countries
in an effort to eliminate the participation of such larger-than-life
characters.
Stricter selection criteria
"We want to avoid what happened in swimming in Sydney. The public
loved it, but I did not like it. The Olympic Games are a mixture
of pure quality - that is, the best athletes in the world, and at
the same time athletes of lesser quality who achieve universality.
After Edwards' performance at Calgary in Canada, where he came 56th
out of 57 (the 57th was disqualified), the British Olympic Association
introduced stricter selection criteria. They specified that any
competitor sent to the games had to be capable of finishing in the
top half of their event.
Rogge said the IOC would in future ask smaller countries
to select their most talented athlete and they would help to prepare
them with technical expertise and financial assistance.
[Source: Guardian]
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