Olympics-Rowing-Program changes a result of Olympic numbers game, says rowing boss

By Philip O'Connor

PARIS (Reuters) - Lightweight sculls will be featured for the last time at the Paris Olympics as rowing seeks to change course and guard its share of the available spaces for athletes, World Rowing president Jean-Christophe Rolland said on Monday.

Speaking to a media conference at the Vaires-sur-Marnes Nautical Centre, Rolland said that changes to the rowing program were an inevitable result of the competition among sports for coveted Olympic slots.

"When you look at this quota and the sport, we are under pressure, and it's clear that it was difficult for us to continue to defend (lightweight rowing)," Rolland told reporters.

The International Olympic Committee aims to have around 10,500 athletes at each Games, and those spots are hotly contested by the various international federations whose sports are featured.

Introduced in 1996 to broaden the pool of rowers beyond the usual tall, long-legged powerhouses, lightweight rowing will now be dropped after Paris in favour of coastal rowing, which will debut at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Classic sports such as rowing are competing with the likes of new attractions such as breakdancing, which is making its Olympic debut in Paris, and skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing, which were all introduced at the Tokyo Games.

The new discipline of coastal rowing will see 64 athletes take part - 16 solo men and women, plus 16 mixed teams - while the more traditional flat-water races will be reduced to 1500 metres from the current 2000 as rowing battles to preserve its status at the Games.

"Since Tokyo, the IOC has made it clear that the number of athletes will not extend or go beyond 10,500, including the additional sports. This is the case here in Paris," Rolland said.

"We don't have the final numbers for rowing (at the L.A. Games) yet, this will be clear by the end of this year," he added.

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Alison Williams)