Wenlock Olympian Gliding MMXII
July 14-21 2012 Midland GC, Shropshire
The spirit of the Modern Olympiad has been with us for over 100 years now, and yet as history testifies, aviation has largely been forgotten in the most spectacular and biggest sporting event in the world.
The Olympics is an event that everyone on this earth can relate to. It is the spirit, the comradeship, the challenge of all men and women at their best, and has played a significant part in quite literally transforming some sports, and in some cases, contributing to the very survival of others into the 21st Century.
However the inclusion of our sport has been so close yet so far, and its omission from the current Olympics is undoubtedly a missed opportunity in promoting gliding's popularity and long-term survival.
But gliding was not always out in the cold. Turn back the clocks, and one may be surprised to learn that Olympic gliding goes as far back as 1932 at the International Olympic Committee's annual conference in Los Angeles just before the start of the Xth Olympiad. Influenced by the Germans, the developers of this innovative and invigorating new sport, Olympic Gliding was the next logical step.
With this burning desire, gliding was introduced to the Olympic fold at the 1936 Berlin Games, and from that point onwards, the future looked rosy indeed. After one or two hiccups along the way, in March 1938 at the IOC's Annual Conference, gliding was finally formally accepted into the Olympic programme as an alternative sport. The race was now on.
But truth be known, it was not all that easy! With the ill-fated 1940 Games succumbing to war, world events were to relegate Gliding to the annuals of Olympic history.
Since then the dream has lain dormant, and it is now down to us, as pilots and contributors to our sport, to remember Gliding's Olympic successes. With the excitement of the 2012 Games once again coming back to London, we saw the chance to mark our sports Olympic dreams! An official invitation to join the Wenlock Olympian Games for 2012 gives us an opportunity to symbolically mark Gliding's Olympic history, and remind us of just how close our sport came to being changed forever.
We therefore ask you to support our call to write a new chapter our sport's history as we gather at the Long Mynd in July 2012 to officially stage a Demonstration Gliding Event in front of members of the WOS Committee, with the possibility of realising our dream of becoming a permanent fixture in the Wenlock Olympian Games calendar!
You too can make a difference!
