*** BMX to replace two cycling events in 2008 Olympics ***

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- 07/01/2003
Bike Moto Cross, otherwise known as BMX cycling,
will be added to the program for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

One women's and one men's BMX race will replace two track
cycling events, yet to be determined, in a bid to attract younger
audiences.

IOC president Jacques Rogge called it a ''new, spectacular event.''

''We believe that this introduction will definitely enhance the
Olympic program,'' he said.

The two new races won't increase the number
of events or athletes in Beijing, Rogge said.

Rogge said the International Cycling Union was studying which two
events in the current program were the least popular and would be
replaced by BMX.

Racing on small stunt bikes, four BMX riders start together and
negotiate a jumps-and-bumps obstacle course, built on dirt in
the center of the velodrome track.

An elimination process will see the fastest in each heat advancing t
o the next round. The heats are expected to take less than a minute
each.

The introduction of BMX is an attempt to attract the interest
of a younger generation, much like the addition of snowboarding
in 1998 and freestyle skiing in the early '90s.

Two sports, triathlon and taekwondo, were added for the
Sydney Olympics in 2000, but there is increasing pressure
to cut rather than add sports.

Since his election as IOC president in 2001,
Rogge has been pushing to contain spending
and ''gigantism'' in the Olympics.

CC - The Associated Press, (AP)

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