ABSTRACT
This chapter examines issues of governance across action sports during the processes of inclusion into the Tokyo Olympic Programme, and the complex relations of power between the IOC and other key agents in this process. Engaging interviews in dialogue with literature on the sociology of sports organisations and governance, this chapter reveals the complex negotiations and tensions within surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing leading up to and beyond the announcement (August 2016) of their inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Programme, and then the inclusion of additional sports (i.e., BMX freestyle, parkour, and kitesurfing) in Tokyo and beyond. In the first examples we see the IOC working to support surfing and sport climbing towards models of self-governance. In the latter (particularly skateboarding and BMX freestyle) we see a modified version of Olympic inclusion developing that incorporates these sports under existing IFs but with key allegiances in the action sports industry. Agenda 2020 enabled such strategic relationships and partnerships, with a growing recognition by the IOC of the value in working with existing organisations and businesses outside the ‘Olympic family’. Examining the differences and similarities across these various sports, we consider the promise and possibility of new models of governance within the Olympic Games, as well as analysing the various layers of power operating within such organisational changes.
