Golf and rugby sevens will now be put forward by the 15-member board to a vote by members of the IOC on October 9. The other sports that were up for consideration were baseball, softball, squash, karate and roller sports. Both baseball and softball were voted off the Olympic programme at a 2005 IOC session in Singapore.
Golf’s Olympic proposal is for a 60-player 72-hole stroke-play competition for both sexes. The top 15 players in the world rankings would qualify automatically, and all major professional tours would alter tournament schedules to avoid clashing with the Olympics.
The International Rugby Board hopes that the inclusion of the sevens format of the game will help grow the game in new markets, including America and Asia, and encourage grassroots investment.
The IOC executive board also considered a total of 33 changes to the 26 existing sports for London 2012 including the addition of women's boxing for the first time. Women’s boxing was rejected last time it was considered for inclusion in 2005, however, this time the board approved the proposal for the inclusion of three women's weight classes from 2012, with one men's class dropped to make room for them.
