Olympic Sport Snowboarding

By: Jamel Hickel


Snowboarding has been around for more than 30 years. Each year more and more people discover the thrill of riding the slopes on their board but it wasn't until 1994 that that the International Olympic Committee declared sport snowboarding as an Olympic sport.

For years various organizations had tried it have snowboarding recognized by the IOC but to no avail. Many snowboarders were angry because they wanted to compete in the games. Sure there were plenty of other competitions but it just wasn't the same.

Each year the various snowboarding organizations would make their appeal to the IOC and each year they would again be turned down. The denial had a great deal to do with the newness of the sport and the prejudices about the type of people that were snowboarders.

Many believed, and that included members of the IOC, that snowboarders were wild and irresponsible when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.

Those boarders that were able to perform those incredible tricks had to be very serious and safety orientated. Yes this was a group of young men and women that loved the thrill and the risk of the ride but they were also a group that wore safety gear and they understood the risks associated with their sport.

In1994 when snowboarding was finally declared an Olympic Sport snowboarders around the world cheered for finally their sport was being recognized as a competitive sport. However it was soon to disappear once again.

Finally in 1998 snowboarding was truly accepted as an Olympic Sport and it was an instant success with snowboarders however from the spectator's point of view there were still some unsubstantiated beliefs especially about the use of drugs and alcohol among this group.

And some of these prejudices were affirmed when Canada's Ross Rebagliati took home the Gold and then lost it because he tested positive for marijuana use.

Medal winners were required to submit a urine sample and Ross's came back at 17.8 nanograms per milliliter which disqualified him. He however insisted that he had not smoke marijuana and had not smoked it for more than a year. He maintained he had been around people who had and thus it was absorbed into his body.

Rebagliati's metal was returned to him because there was no agreement with the International Ski Federation relating to the use of marijuana. However regardless of the �legal� outcome this scandal did nothing for the sport of snowboarding.

In fact what it did was confirm peoples beliefs that this was not a sport based on good clean fun and that is was in fact wild and crazy abusing alcohol and drugs along the way.

Since then things have come a long way. More and more riders became known among the public. Spectators grew, and a greater number of people began taking up snowboarding as a sport.

In fact by 1998 over 50% of all the activity on the mountains was snowboarding which is why most ski mountains have been quick to recognize the potential income.

Today sport snowboarding is as main stream as skiing and almost everyone either enjoys watching the sport or participating.




Jamel Hickel is a professional snowboarder and skiing for last 8 years. Visit his website at www.snowsearch.info to learn from his experience the art of snowboarding and skiing and you can find skiing, snowboard gear.