Luke Humphries has made passionate Olympics darts plea and put two events on notice
Darts star Luke Humphries has made a plea to the International Olympic Committee.
Luke Humphries has revealed that he believes darts should be introduced as an event at the Olympic Games.
There have been speculative shouts for the sport to be considered in the future, with surfing and sport climbing being introduced in Paris this year.
Darts has soared in popularity over the past 12 months, with Humphries’ rise to glory and Luke Littler’s emergence putting the sport on the map – and some believe that the sport now deserves to be played on the most prestigious of sporting stages.
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Asked in January after winning the World Darts Championship by talkSPORT about whether he believes that darts should be an Olympic sport, Humphries says: “Yeah I think it should be introduced - I think it's the biggest sport in the world that isn't involved, to be honest.
“I've seen many say, 'You just throw darts at a board it isn't an Olympic sport', but then are archery or shooting Olympic sports? They don't require athleticism, it is aiming for a target. We do the same.
"Our sport is massive, but also I'd like to see snooker included as well. All the top sports are included and darts is not, and I think that is totally fair to say."
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Humphries went on to speak about how darts has developed as a sport in recent years, becoming a more professional competition compared to previous spectacles. He continued: “We've grown the sport massively now. It's not the sport it was looked at 20 years ago.
"It has matured and cleaned its act up and is very professional now. So I'm not sure how we go about getting it in [the Olympics], but I really think it should be."
It remains to be seen whether a proposal is made to the International Olympic Committee for them to consider darts going forward, though it is unclear whether the process is underway already. In the meantime, Humphries will be cheering on the Team GB athletes from home.
Cool Hands was in flying form earlier this month when winning the World Matchplay to get his hands on the Phil Taylor Trophy, beating Michael van Gerwen in the final to secure a remarkable victory in Blackpool. He defeated James Wade, Dimitri van den Bergh and Stephen Bunting en route to the final.
