Trainig for olympics starts at a very young age.
Do you guys think that thousands of 10 year old kiters arround the globe is a good thing?

I do not think this is the case for all olympic exercises. But no I do not think 10year olds kiting is a good idea.

I think in terms of a spectator sport, course racing has more to offer as opposed to freestyle.
We, as kiteboarders ourselves, forget that the other 90% of spectators don't see the difference between landing blind or toeside, or even hooked in- or out when watching a competition heat.

Course racing for the layman is far more easy/ attractive to watch: he who comes in first has won the race!
Also take into account that in terms of TV coverage, course racing is also better suited to report. You can implement GPS tracking, top speed measurements, 3D animations, GoPro cams etc.. into the coverage giving the spectator all perspectives needed to get drawn to the competition.
Like in all other sports, statistics are a big part of getting the spectators interested into a certain sport, wheater this is soccer, football or kiteboarding!

Of course there always be people who feel that by entering kiteboarding into the Olympics it'll loose it's 'soul'.
But think of all the young kids who will be inspired by the images of kiteboarders competing during these games. Millions will see the colourful kites going head to head in a fantastic event!

How cool to be a part of that!

So true !

Peter

One thing they could do would be fit cameras to all the kites - a bit like they do on the formula one races with the cameras on the cars. That could be a big advantage over the other sailing categories.

Yeah and helmet cam's...going toe to toe fast speed...boards bumping...could be pretty spectacular...

will that help to get some kitesurfing areas, autorizations and so on for the local clubs in the differents countries/islands? and less forbidden areas?

I think it's a good thing, more people seeing some aspects of the sport can only be good for the sport overall.

Is it hip, will the kids be impressed, who cares, not every aspect of the sport has to appeal to every potential kiter. Kiting is a broad church.

Already had a bunch of soccer moms stake out the local launch today as training ground for their olympic brats. Good times ahead ........l

lol, if you've gotta be famous in sport now might be the time to start training, it'll only get harder to win.