It's hard to believe that the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro are right around the corner already, it seems like the 2012 Summer Olympics in London just finished. I, personally, like the format of having the summer olympics every four years as well as having the winter olympics every four years. This allows for us to not stray too far away from showing our patriotism, but enough of a gap between olympics to where we don't become bored with seeing them on the television every year.
One of the biggest differences for the the 2016 Rio olympics versus the 2012 London olympics is the addition of two returning sports, golf and sevens rugby as well as a sport making its olympic debut, kitesurfing. I am honestly surprised that the two returning sports were not in the 2012 games due to the fact that these sports have such a global impact. Golf is played by millions of people all over the world, this is shown by having tournaments and competitors from all over the world competing in PGA events. As for rugby, it has a global presence aw well, it even has a growing participation rate and popularity in America. Another reason this is surprising is the fact that the IOC voted rugby into the games with an 81-8 vote, as to why it wasn't in the 2012 games is beyond me. Kitesurfing, making its olympic debut has replaced windsurfing in the summer olympics, but it has seen its fair share of controversy. Many IOC members were not in favor considering the vote only nearly passed with a 19-17 vote in favor of the sport.
With the 2016 Summer Olympics around the corner, it will be interesting to see how these returning sports impact the 2016 games as well as how many people will enjoy/view the event. As for kitesurfing, I will definitely be tuning in to see what exactly that will look like.
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