Golf, rugby sevens join Games from 2016

Golf and rugby sevens have been added to the Olympic schedule from the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, the IOC said yesterday.

The two sports were added to the Summer Games line-up after a vote of members at the IOC session in Copenhagen. Golf last featured in an Olympics in 1904 while rugby was taken off the Olympic schedule after the 1924 Games in Paris.

They are guaranteed an appearance for two consecutive Games.

"I am so excited so I will have to speak in French," International Rugby Board (IRB) president Bernard Lapasset told reporters with a big smile.

"It is an historic moment for rugby, it is the return to the Olympic family. We have constructed a family for rugby. We are proud how we built our candidacy."

The IOC, eager to revamp its sports programme to attract younger viewers, voted to raise the number of sports to 28 for the Rio Olympics, including the fast-paced version of rugby played with seven players instead of 15 and men's and women's 72-hole stroke play for golf.

The 2012 London Games will have 26 sports after baseball and softball were taken off the programme in 2005.

While rugby sevens breezed into the Olympics with 81 votes for and only eight against, golf earned 63 votes for inclusion and 27 against.

Rugby, which had among others New Zealander Jonah Lomu and former Argentina captain Agustin Pichot in its presentation team, was showered with praise by IOC members following their pitch.

Golf was forced to answer tough questions on expensive equipment, men's only clubs and environmental concerns, despite taped messages of support from top players including Tiger Woods and Ernie Els.

The two sports are guaranteed global expansion and cash with funding from the IOC, increased broadcast rights deals and, in some countries, automatic national funding as an Olympic sport.

Analysts have estimated that rugby sevens will easily double its current sponsorship money of about $15-20 million by joining the Olympics.