‘It copped it’: Day wants say on lifesaving Games push

October 9

Ali Day wants to figure in surf lifesaving’s push for Olympic inclusion, determined to ensure his sport doesn’t “cop it” like breaking did in Paris.

Nine-time Coolangatta Gold champion Day will look to stretch his unbeaten streak to double figures in what could be his final appearance at the iconic multi-discipline surf race on Sunday.

Contemplating retirement, the 33-year-old is keen to lend his expertise as the sport joins the likes of flying disc, rugby league and netball as contenders for Brisbane’s 2032 Games.

There is trepidation, though, with Day wary after breaking’s Paris debut was soured by questions of legitimacy, and Australian representative Rachael Gunn was the subject of global ridicule.

“The last thing I’d want – I don’t know if I should say it, I hate to say it – but you look at break dancing and it just copped it so much at the Olympics and I’d hate for my sport to experience that,” Day told AAP.

“But I don’t think it would … some of the toughest, fittest athletes in the world are ironmen and women.

“I’ll be 42 and coaching or in a management role and that’s why I’d love to be part of it, present it or push it.

“I have the knowledge to give. Its inclusion would be a proud moment for me and the sport and everyone who came before.

“I’d love to turn the TV on in 2032 and be sitting there with my kids saying, ‘How good’s this’.”

Paris included breaking for the first time and welcomed back surfing, skateboard and climbing after they had debuted in Tokyo.

Breaking will not feature at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, where squash and flag football will debut and baseball, softball, cricket and lacrosse return.

The Olympic Programme Commission, which includes Australian surfer Sally Fitzgibbons as a member, won’t officially begin considering Brisbane’s additional sports any earlier than 2026.

LA’s indulgence to include the typically American pastime of flag football has already drawn light-hearted jest from Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee chief Andrew Liveris.

And it strengthens lifesaving’s case, given nearly 50 nations competed at this year’s world championships.

The IOC has also stressed new sports must be sustainable, inclusive, urban, youth-oriented, spectacular and gender-equal, while not requiring new, permanent infrastructure.

The sport had its zenith in the late 1980s and 1990s when the likes of Trevor Hendy were household names, while it was the breeding ground for Olympians Kenny Wallace, Ky Hurst, Grant Hackett and Clint Robinson.

Now multi-million-dollar investment from wealth management fund Shaw and Partners, the new Ironman naming rights holder, has given modern-day champions such as Day a deserved nudge.

Gold Coast will already be home to a host of Olympic events, and a new sport, featuring literal lifesavers in individual and mixed-team swim, board and ski relays, would tick boxes.

“The IOC have said they want to ‘build a better world through sport’ and I think that is just so wonderful and our sport can truly help do that,” Hendy said.

“We have members from nippers all the way up through people racing at 70, 80 years of age in the masters.

“All of those people at some stage in their life have been involved in rescuing people, and all of these people are volunteering their time on the weekends to keep our beaches safe.”

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