Bowling at the 1988 Summer Olympics

Bowling at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Venue	Seoul's Royal Bowling Center
Dates	18 September 1988
Competitors	24 from 21 nations

Bowling at the 1988 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport for the first, and so far only time. In all, a total 24 Ten-pin bowling bowlers, 12 male and 12 female, from ? nations competed in the exhibition, which was held on September 18 at the Seoul's Royal Bowling Center.

Preperations

The IOC Executive Board adopted bowling as an exhibition sport in January 1986, and the SLOOC created a bowling competition operation section in its secretariat in November 1987. The Bowling Operation was activated in March 1988. The organization hierarchy of the operation included the commissioner, secretary general, one director, two managers and nine officers. The operation headquarters moved its offices to the Royal Bowling Center (the venue), on June 24. It completed its staff of 137 shortly thereafter, including staff members of the SLOOC, volunteers, 91 support personnel, 55 specialized personnel and one temporary employee. A general rehearsal was held on September 9. The Royal Bowling Center, with 24 lanes (Brunswick20A-2), is located about 20 kilometers from the Olympic Village. No training site was designated separately. According to the specifications set for by the International Bowling Federation, 91 unit of 24 items, including 50 sets of pins, were secured to stage the competitions, while some implements used for the Seoul Asian Games were also used.

Competition

In the morning were the preliminaries. 12 competitors each for the men's and women's events competed in an 11-game full league. In the afternoon were the finals. The first three placers in the full league contested for the first place under a ladder method of competition. Three members of the IBF officiated the competitions as referees. No bowling professionals competed in the demonstration events. Carol Gianotti of Australia, a former multiple LPBA Champion, competed but did not win a medal. All 1000 event tickets for the event were sold (only within South Korea).

Men's event

Kwon Jongryul of the Republic of Korea, who placed second in the preliminary, edged Singapore's Loke Chinto capture the gold, and the third place went to Tapani Peltola of Finland.

Women's event

Arianne Cerdena of the Philippines, who placed first in the preliminary, finished first again, followed by Asai Atsuko of Japan in second place, and Annikki Maattola of Finland in third place.

Results

Event	1st place	2nd place	3rd place
Men's tournament	Kwon Jong Yul  South Korea	Jack Wong Loke Chin  Singapore	Tapani Peltola  Finland
Women's tournament	Arianne Cerdeña 23x15px Philippines	Atsuko Asai  Japan	Annikki Maattola  Finland

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	South Korea (KOR)	1	0	0	1
2	Philippines Philippines (PHI)	1	0	0	1
3	Japan (JPN)	0	1	0	1
4	Singapore (SIN)	0	1	0	1
5	Finland (FIN)	0	0	2	2

Aftermath

The bowling industry lobbied long and hard to get bowling recognized as a worthy demonstration sport for future Games. But the outcome was not successful in getting bowling a part of the regular Olympics curriculum for future Games. Plainly and simply, politics and money likely played a role in the outcome of bowling being excluded in subsequent Games after 1988. Also the fact that it is not a sport which provides inexpensive nor easy access to most youngsters in third world countries to develop skill and proficiency.

See also

• Bowling at the Summer Olympics