Discussion: Does Motorsport Have a Place at the Olympics?

Paul Jeffrey · Aug 12, 2018

FIA Karting Commission President Felipe Massa wants to bring karting to the 2024 Olympic Games - do you think motorsport has a place at these historic events?

Speaking to Brazilian TV show Conversa com Bial, Massa laid out his desire to see future Olympic Games hosting karting events, starting with the 2024 games in Paris:

“The idea is to take electric karts to the 2024 Olympics, in Paris. Electric karts are right at the beginning,” the former Sauber, Ferrari and Williams driver said.

However in order to provide both the safest and most impressive spectacle possible, Massa admits further work needs to be undertaken before a possible Olympic debut can take place, something the 37-year-old Brazilian is confident can be achieved in the available timeframe:

“There are many things to develop in order to decrease the weight of the battery, because the battery is heavy.

“When it comes to kids, if you crash, if you roll, the weight of the kart makes difference. But it will take very short time, because the development rate on it is very fast.”

With Massa seeing Olympic recognition as one of the key targets in his new role, work is already underway to bring motorsport, and karting in particular, into the wider thinking of the Olympic committee, something already underway with a planned exhibition event later this year taking place as part of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina

Many arguments exist as to the future direction of Olympic Games in years to come, from those who think it should be a contest of human skill and strength without the aid of machines, to those who believe with the acceptance of modern day yachting and cycling technology already has a strong foothold in the games, but does a place for motorsport exist, or even should it do going forward?

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Do you think motorsport and karting have a place at the Olympics? Would a space for electric karts be a good or bad thing for the sport, in your opinion? Let us know in the comments section below!

Ryno917 · Aug 12, 2018

With there being so much soci-political turmoil over the spiraling costs to host countries for the Olympic games, it would make absolutely no sense to add the most expensive sport in the world into the mix.

omanrak · Aug 12, 2018

What about playing video games at the Olympics?

rubaru · Aug 12, 2018

This idea is stupid to me. Olympics are supposed to be about the athlete only. The only event that involves something other than a human competition is equestrian. Add car racing you might as well include motorcycles, airplanes, and drone racing.

michelforest · Aug 12, 2018

Total nonsense. It would be way too expensive, and the Olympics are already too expensive to organise. Also, any kind of motor sport, even karting, would disproportionately favour the richest countries over the poorest. More importantly, it just doesn't fit in... simple as that.

BP · Aug 12, 2018

Unless these karts are powered “Flintstones style”, I don’t think it fits in. Trying to include everybody in everything ‘just because’ shouldn’t be the goal; there are tons of top-tier (i.e. global) motorsport championships to aspire towards: NASCAR, F1, Indycar, multiple endurance and rally series, Rallycross, etc...and that’s just for cars! Then you have bikes, trucks, etc...compared to much less top-level global championships for purely athletic sports...please correct me if I’m wrong.

I’d much rather they merge the Olympics and Paralympic Games into one before even considering Motorsport.

Short_Circut · Aug 12, 2018

As much as I would love to see it in the Olympics, there are just far too many problems that would arise if bringing it in, and that's not just due to the massive cost needed

Patrik Marek · Aug 12, 2018

I could see something like Race of champions being part of the olympics

AnklaX · Aug 12, 2018

I think it is. Why not place Race of Champions in the Olympics on years the Olympics is held?

Nick Hill · Aug 12, 2018

Doesn't fit.

I love "normal" sports, they're great.
I love Motorsports, they're great.

But they are two distinctly different arenas, in my book. Trying to conflate the two would cheapen them both.

Durge Driven · Aug 12, 2018

April the 1st already !

Oh no, I missed ACC release !

Knoxstar · Aug 12, 2018

The one single most disagreed aspect of motorsport compared to other sports is that the drivers are not athletes. Stick and ball enthusiasts just don't get it. If curling is considered a sport then motorsports is much more demanding and requires more endurance.

If the karts or vehicles can be guaranteed to be equal and come from a pool then why not? Let's prove that drivers of the elite variety have superhuman eye to hand coordination, concentration and endurance. Don't make the race some short thing though. They have to be longer races than a typical kart race.

Also, who says some athletes don't have a decided advantage with equipment? A skier can lose if his/her prep person doesn't put the right wax on and and the U.S. bobsled team had their sleds designed and developed by Geoff Bodine from NASCAR. They don't use the same sleds at all. There are some poorer countries that use older sleds from some of the better funded teams, etc., etc., etc.

Terry Rock · Aug 12, 2018

Keep them separated. No need for any type of motorsports in Olympics. I'd much rather see Massa go around the world introducing karting to young underprivileged kids, with some type of corporate sponsorship.

ozm8ey · Aug 12, 2018

Nope, Olympics should only ever have sports that require physical activity. I don't count steering a wheel as a physical sport, but then again they have lawn bowls lol

Diogo Goetz Brand · Aug 12, 2018

The Olympics in my opinion should be a competition between human bodies and minds, not machines. Of course fitness plays a big role in motorsport, but it's far from being the main focus, so for me it's a no.

ouvert · Aug 12, 2018

couldnt care less but no

it is physical but it is too much depending on machines ...
But it is less out of place than adding kids playing video games and calling them athlets in e-sports ... which is apparently being considered for 2024 OG

Zuffenhausen Weiss · Aug 12, 2018

Does it have a place at the Olympics? It had in 1900 as a demonstration sport. Does it have a place again? No

wombat999 · Aug 12, 2018

No!
And the 'Olympics' have devolved into another money driven show, far from the concept envisioned over 100 years ago.

RobJLee · Aug 12, 2018

Why not. They've got horse dancing in the Olympics. Bunch of toffs on horses prancing around an arena...

Sailing is also part of the olympics. Another quite expensive hobby full of toffs...

What irks me about the Olympics and other similar events is the amount of whining you get from athletes when their funding is cut by the govt. and lottery. Most of them them are from quite affluent backgrounds in the first place.

Wish I had funding for my hobbies.

Racing drivers don't get funded by the lottery or govt. most have to make their own way in the sport, until they reach a level where they can get sponsorship, and even then it's bun fight with no guaranteed income.

Also agree with whoever it is who's said that Massa should go round promoting to the underprivileged - motorsport is generally one of the single most expensive and inaccessible sports in the world. Unless you want to do "poor man's" motorsport, i.e. banger racing, but even that isn't cheap...

I would imagine that to undertake any sort of motorsport as an adult, even karting, you'd need a personal income of £30k+! Or as a child rich parents (I'm looking at Lewis Hamilton who recently tried to claim he's working class!! Lol)