World Selection Committee
The World Selection Committee consists of five individuals who meet once every month before the Olympic Games are set to begin. The members of this committee are elected by the organizing committee but all the members serve on a rotational basis. So, you can say that this committee is like an Olympic committee. They are the ones who choose which games they want to participate in. However, the decision is not theirs alone since it is consulted by the organizing committee.
The World Selection Committee meets at least once before the Olympics. The committee meets in Washington, DC, the city where the Olympic Games will be held. Once there, the committee discusses each country’s preparations for the games. They also discuss if there should be a high bar in participating in the Olympic Games. This is something that the organizing committee discusses with the World Selection Committee.
Each country that is a part of the World Selection Committee must prepare a list of athletes that will be sent for a physical and an evaluation of their potential in the Olympic Games. Then, the World Selection Committee makes a short list of these candidates. After making the short list of athletes, the World Selection Committee sends it to the organizing committee. From this short list, the World Selection Committee determines which countries will represent their countries at the Olympic games. The committee must meet again before the start of the olympic games to confirm the nation’s participation in the Olympic games.
Earlier this year, the World Selection Committee met in Chicago and the decisions were made after a long discussion. Two of those decisions included changing the meaning of the word ” disqualification” to “disqualification”. The high bar was also changed from one point to two. Therefore, in cases of extreme circumstances, the World Selection Committee can disallocate a medal to a different athlete depending on the severity of the situation.
However, earlier when the question of disqualification was brought up, the sportsmen and women present in the meeting vigorously raised the issue of disqualification. They maintained that the Olympic committee was making decisions arbitrarily and without due process or sympathy. Mikulak said that the decision about the eligibility of a certain athlete was made after carefully looking at all the facts. He maintained that many sportsmen and women have been disqualified in the course of the Olympics and the committee does not make such a decision arbitrarily. The meeting ended with the World Selection Committee reiterating their decision to the entire assembled media that they are sticking to the original definition of the word.
Theodor Mikulak believes that there is room for improvement in the way the Olympic committees are selected. He believes that the next time, the Olympic committee will be more careful in choosing its members. He also said that the fact thatemen and women have joined forces to set up the Olympic Sports Confederation makes things more transparent.