Nick Harding | @nickhdg | Sportscene - We recently published Ivan Lawler's career memoirs, the five-time marathon World Champion also took time to talk to us about the future of women's canoe sprint.

The absence of women's canoeing events in Olympic slalom and sprint, as well as the imbalance between the number of male and female events, is currently a much debated topic that the ICF are working to address.

Ivan, during his interview with us, was asked about women's canoeing; he was happy to share his thoughts.

Here's what he said:

“Will it [women's canoeing] realistically become an Olympic sprint event or does the level of performance still need to evolve?

“This is a really big question and is obviously one of the biggest issues we face at the moment. I am not involved at the top of the sport so am maybe not aware of all the issues, however there are lots of forces at work on this one.

The obvious conclusion to this is that we will have to include women's canoe in the Olympic programme if we are to meet equality requirements and keep our Olympic status.

I have several issues though with the discussion that is going on at the moment. Despite everyone quoting the equality argument there are plenty of other motivations at work on this one.

There are individuals pushing who have a vested interest as they seek personal glory, there are federations who see the opportunity of medals and hence more funding, there are politicians who see that supporting this cause will further their own careers, there are the heads of the sport who have no love for women's canoe but need to protect their own status in the upper echelons of an Olympic sport.

The list does not end there I am sure, but the one consistent thing they all quote is the ‘equality issue’ as this is the side of the discussion that makes them all look like they are doing what they are doing for the good of the sport. In reality equality is just the screen many of these people are hiding behind for personal gain.

As an outsider, I fail to see why any sport has to get Olympic recognition in order to thrive. A good sport is a good sport whether it is Olympic or not. Women's canoe has the same opportunity to thrive as any other sport, whether it is Olympic or not has no bearing on that. The assumption that a sport cannot thrive without funding is not true.

Triathlon was not Olympic until very recently, before that it was just a great event that became so great it had to be included on the Olympic programme. Kitesurfing is a current example of a sport that has captured the mass imagination and thus has forced its way into the Olympic eye. 

My fear is that with the rush to appear like we are doing the right thing we will introduce a sport that is not ready for competition of Olympic calibre and that could be the 'nail in our coffin' as far as Olympic inclusion is concerned. We were on the list for exclusion this time around.

Part of that had to be due to the poor level of competition in the men's canoe classes where heats, semi finals and even B finals were so spread out it was embarrassing to watch. This is not due to the lack of quality paddlers out there but due to the necessity for the ICF to jump through the Olympic hoops to reduce numbers, include every continent, and cater for developing nations. Ultimately ending up in a spectacle that no one could have been happy with.

So yes, we need equality, I think that is clear and reasonable, what worries me is the time-frame we are being pushed to get it in and what affect that will have on the perception of the sport as a whole (I can only speak for flatwater racing here, as I have no idea of the depth or quality in other branches of the sport).

If women's canoe want the opportunity to become an Olympic sport, which I agree they should have every right to have, then first we must make women's canoe a spectacle that the Olympic movement cannot ignore. It may just be a chicken and egg argument but I think the sport should develop first and then push for inclusion. We may not however have that as an option.”

How do you think some of the male sprinters would react if their event is axed at the expense of equity?

“Whenever there is change there are people who gain and people who lose, it is always painful but is soon forgotten. It will be tough though for some, who are left at home capable of medal winning performances to sit and watch others trawling down the course 20 seconds off the pace making up the IOC criteria for our sports inclusion in the Olympic circus.

Maybe the sport needs to take a good long look at itself and ask if the Olympics is the best way forward for our future or could there be another route to take that allows us to choose our own destiny and grow our own sport as triathlon did until we are so big they have to beg us to return on our own terms.

Do the people at the top believe in the sport enough to take such a gamble? Or, is there too much to lose in the short term for those in decision-making positions? Like I said I am not up at that end of the sport so I have no idea! What I do know though is that the Olympics and all that goes with it can destroy many more sports careers than they make.

All that said, I am really looking forward to watching men's synchronized swimming in Rio 2016!”

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More about gender equality: Gender equality in women’s canoeing - links to media