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7 Aug 2016

The golfers don't care, but the Olympics meant everything to us squash players


Squash players would give their other arms to be in Rio this summer so it’s galling – if entirely predictable – to hear such apathy from the world’s top golfers
By James Willstrop for Willstrop’s World, part of the Guardian Sport Network


 The world’s four best golfers – Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day – who are all skipping the Olympics.
Rory McIlroy was unusually blunt when explaining why he won’t be travelling to Rio this summer, but it doesn’t surprise me one bit that the world’s top four male golfers – Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and McIlroy – have withdrawn from the Olympics. In 2009 and then again in 2013, having bent over backwards to impress and convince the IOC, us squash players were snubbed for the Games. In some respects I didn’t blame the committee for going with the big timers, but the odds were always going to be against the golfers turning up.

For McIlroy to say so flippantly that he “didn’t get into golf to try to grow the game” shows that some sports, and the personalities who front them, exist in completely different stratospheres to the rest of us. The Olympics barely registers as an exhibition tournament for the top golfers, but we would give our other arms to be in Rio, something we have repeatedly uttered to anyone who listens.

Rory McIlroy will watch ‘the stuff that matters’ at Olympics – not golf
It was difficult to listen to McIlroy speak so apathetically, certainly for Laura Massaro, England’s World Series champion, who expressed disdain at McIlroy’s “unacceptable” comments. Perhaps he wasfour only being honest and maybe it’s what the IOC need to hear. They should be held accountable for prioritising a second-rate golf contest over the many willing, enthusiastic athletes from a range of sports around the world.

We could have predicted in 2013 that the top golfers wouldn’t show their faces at Games scheduled just after the Open and the PGA Championship, and in the build-up the Ryder Cup. The golf authorities must have been dreading the day one of their players came out with it. And yes, for the record, I’m unconvinced that it has anything to do with Zika.

Every professional squash player was behind our bid, which cost us thousands upon thousands of pounds – money we didn’t have. We assembled a slick bid, produced fancy promo videos and practically took bloody courses in public speaking! And we did all this between training sessions, making a living and seeing our families.

Every photo opportunity we could take, we took. We (the players, not just our administrators) sent posters and cards to every IOC delegate we could contact, saying we would be totally committed to competing. We kept hearing that having the world’s best players support the bid was imperative, so we all made our desire to compete very clearer. I heard so many players saying that “the Olympics would be our pinnacle” so many times in interviews that it became funny. When you stop to think about it, it’s not very kind to the venues that host superb events that support our sport year after year and decade upon decade, but we really meant it.

Nicol David has won eight world championship titles and she wanted to be at the Olympics so badly she began conducting her own campaigns. She worked tirelessly to promote the cause, even taking to the streets of Kuala Lumpur to lead the other players in flash mobs.

Ramy Ashour, one of the game’s greats, was the leader on the men’s side – our McIlroy if you like. These are world champions, great sporting personalities, but of course they don’t have the profile of McIlroy and
Article by James willstrop

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