IWWF steps up wakeboard inclusion in 2020 Olympics

MANILA, Philippines - With the International Olympic Committee currently reviewing all eight new sports for a place in the 2020 Olympic Games, organizers of the 2012 World Cable Wakeboard Championships guarantee no less than a successful staging of the event when it is held Nov. 10-11 at the Deca Wakeboard Park in Clark in Angeles, Pampanga.

In fact, wakeboard fans around the world will get the rare chance to watch the live webcast of the event on YouTube Sports Hub link for the first time in full HD. The free live webcast is scheduled to cover both the Junior and Open men’s and women’s finals.

The conduct of the upcoming event will have great significance for the International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation as it bids to put the event for inclusion in the 2020 quadrennial games.

The event is backed by Rixen Cableways, IWWF Wakeboard 2020 Vision, Smart, Gatorade, Deca Homes, Stoked Inc, RipCurl, Monster Energy Drink, Devant LED TV, Bacardi, Department of Tourism Region 3, Aktion Parks, Plus Event Marketing and organized by Eventking Corp. in cooperation with the Waterski and Wakeboard Association of the Philippines. 

Defending champions Nick Davies and Kirsteen Mitchell of Great Britain head the elite cast that also includes the gold medal Open winners in the recent Tokyo World Cup – Austria’s Angelika Shriber and Germany’s Frederic von Osten.

The number of countries seeing action in Clark has also doubled to 32, underscoring the tremendous growth of the sport with top bets from Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and the Philippines, to be led by Samantha Bermudez, Mark Griffin and Carlo dela Torre, joining the hunt for top honors.

The Deco Wakeboard Park will also showcase its world-class facility, including a Rixen German-made cable system with a five-corner design most desirable layout. All of the obstacles are sourced from Germany as well for world-class and the ultimate wakeboarding park riding experience.

The Cable Wakeboard Worlds will feature men’s and women’s competitions in the open, juniors, veterans and masters categories as well as the highly technical Wake Skate discipline.

The growth of Cable Wakeboard Parks around the world has caught many by surprise. The unique combination of low cost, environment-friendly and high return on investment features have given cities around the world a whole new lifestyle attraction for active young sports enthusiasts with additional new parks put up in Belgium, Turkey, Russia, France, Great Britain, Germany, Egypt and the United States in recent months.

Wakeboard action actually gets going on Nov. 6 with the qualifiers up to Nov. 9. For details, log on to iwwfed.com with live webcast at www.IWWF.TV.