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Sir Clive Woodward says darts should be an Olympic sport in the future
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The 60-year-old has “lapped up” the world darts over the festive period
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“The Olympics is evolving and I want to see darts in the Games,” said Woodward
England’s World Cup-winning former rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward wrote in Wednesday’s Daily Mail that darts was growing in popularity worldwide and it was time it “stepped up to the Olympic oche”.
“Darts should be an Olympic sport. No, seriously. The world of sport is evolving, the Olympics is evolving and I want to see darts in the Games. Easier said than done, but it ticks all the boxes,” Woodward said.
“Sport is about people striving to do their best, competing to win while also accepting loss. Darts has all that and much more.”
Woodward, who led England to the 2003 Rugby World Cup, said he had “lapped up” the world darts finals over the Christmas and New Year holiday period as Michael Van Gerwen claimed his second world title at Alexandra Palace.
“Darts is a sport of and for the people and that is what the modern-day Olympics is striving very hard to reflect,” said Woodward.
“If you made darts an Olympic sport tomorrow, almost overnight millions of men and women from the age of 15 to 65 would suddenly nurture private hopes and ambitions that they could be Olympic champions. It’s that accessible.
“I’ve lost track of the number of people who say they first tuned in to darts on TV by mistake and were still there an hour later living every moment. It draws you in,” he said.
“At least half the coverage involves close-ups of faces. You can see the mental process, the calculations, the sweat, the stress, the panic and the calming of the nerves.”
The next Olympics in Tokyo, host of the 2020 Games, will have surfing, sport climbing and karate among six new sports included in its Olympics.