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Success of Golf and Rugby at Rio 2016 Shows Olympics Must Continue to Innovate

Published by Bleacher Report on Mon, 15 Aug 2016


After all the questions and doubts, golf had its day at the 2016 Rio Games on Sunday, and it didn't disappoint.Going right down to the last stroke, it was gripping entertainment as Team GB's Justin Rose narrowly saw off Henrik Stenson. The pair had been level at 15 under par heading into the 18th, but with Rose scoring a birdie and Swede Stenson a bogey, it proved enough for the Brit to seal a two-shot victory.It makes Rose the first golf Olympic champion in over a century. Not since 1908 has the sport featured at the Games, and now that it's back, it seems foolish to have ever allowed it to go away.With Rose and Stenson going head-to-head, Rio was treated to a rare sight at the Olympic Games. It was two of the biggest and most famous names in their sport going toe-to-toe for supremacy with the world watching.Now, we're used to that across the board with all the Olympic sports. The Games are the pinnacle for so many of those who compete. But watching two massive figures in such a global sport has added to the depth of what these Games have to offer. Profile is everything, and golf has certainly given that to the Olympics in 2016.Had Rose's win been a certainty earlier in the day, we could be forgiven for allowing the focus to shift elsewhere. It would have felt like any other golf tournament outside of the majors. The Olympics is being called the fifth major for a reason, though; it really matters to golf and those who have taken part."That felt better than anything I've ever won. It was the best tournament I've ever done," Rose told BBC Sport just before he was presented with his gold medalBritain's second on Day 9 where they ended up with an extra five in total added to their tally."Hopefully we've shown Brazil what golf is about. I'm glad it was close. Not for my nerves. For golf."Indeed, it's the sense of drama and tension that has added to the game. Rose spoke of showing Brazil what golf is about; his performance and that of others has shown the Olympics what it's all about.In this first week of competition, we saw something similar from rugby sevens. Like golf, the sport was new to the roster for Rioalthough this was the first time sevens was ever an Olympic sportand it captured the imagination.Everything that sevens rugby is about was on show in Brazil. There were massive hits, phenomenal tries and no shortage of nail-biting action.For Team GB's men, who won silver after losing to Fiji in the final, their route to contesting for gold was torture for their supporters. In the quarter-final they drew 0-0 with Argentina and had to go to sudden death to decide a winner. In the semis, they narrowly defeated South Africa 7-5 to clinch victory.It was excellent. Watching sevens got the blood pumping and ensured there was no shortage of anxiety throughout the men's and women's competition.Come the end of it all as Fiji claimed victory in the men's side of the draw and Australia for the women, rugby sevens felt very Olympian. It embodied everything we love about the Games and brought an added freshness to them. Witnessing something for the first time is special, and as sevens becomes more ingrained into the Olympic movement, we can only expect that to increase.Both sevens and golf have made Rio feel unique. While the London Games carried a lot more swagger and panache, Rio is in the process of generating a new world feel about it. From the two new sports we've seen, the amount of history being made has all but hit the reset button.It's as though the Olympics have remodelled themselves in the space of a week. The rule book from past years has been flung out of the window; there are new heroes now, new powers in different sports where they were once considered minnows. Take Team GB in gymnastics, where Max Whitlock won two golds within the space of an hour on Day 9, in the pommel horse and floor exercise. That was unheard of before for a British gymnast.And here we are with sevens and golf at the heart of it all. The two newest sports on the roster are helping the Olympic Games innovate; they're making them feel relevant in 21st century, attracting new crowds.What those two sports have done this week should send shock waves throughout the IOC's headquartersthe right kind. Golf and rugby sevens have showed the Olympic power brokers that they can't be found to be resting on their laurels. They need to continue to push the boundaries and innovate in a world where, four years from now, technology and social trends would have changed significantly. That means the way we consume sport would have, too.All sports must adapt with that, and as the IOC have learned by integrating golf and sevens, to attract new audiences and maintain interest, diversity is key.When the Olympic Games land in Tokyo in 2020, we'll see baseball/softball, surfing, skateboarding, sports climbing and karate added. It hints that the IOC is getting the message.For how they've helped change the Olympics in 2016, golf and sevens can't be ignored in helping deliver that.
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