Knights are not horsing around – they want to joust for Olympic gold
English Heritage lobbies International Olympic Committee and starts petition to get former sport of kings into Games by 2020
KNIGHTS used to be rewarded with a kiss from a fair maiden if they won a jousting tournament in the olde days.
Now the former sport of kings could see knights battling it out for an Olympic medal.
And English Heritage are going all out to make it happen.
The organisation has held preliminary talks with the International Olympic Committee about including jousting in future Games and there are hopes that it could be an exhibition event in Tokyo in 2020.
English Heritage believe jousting has all what’s needed to make it an ideal candidate for the Olympics and have started an online campaign to get it included.
It said that while Olympians heading to Rio next month also had the ‘athleticism, agility, skill and strength’ of jousters, they did not have to wear 20kg of steel armour, hold a 12ft lance in one hand, the horse's reins in the other ‘all while thundering towards their opponent at speeds up to 30mph’.
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English Heritage's head of projects Lucy Hutchings said: “We are being deadly serious.
"It is such an incredible spectacle to watch these knights go up against each other.
The skill of the knight and the horses make it a great thing to witness. We absolutely believe it deserves its place at the Olympic table.
“We have thousands of visitors who flock to jousting events. Real diehards, jousting groupies.
“We now have a number of knights who are internationally renowned but it is increasingly popular in other countries."
Dominic Sewell, one of the world's top jousters, who is advising English Heritage on their campaign, said that jousting events were now held on four continents.
He said: “This used to be the biggest sport in the world. And in recent years it has again become a worldwide phenomenon.
"I know it sounds crazy and people will say, 'But isn't that a Sunday afternoon event?'
“But jousting is a sport that requires a huge amount of skill and involves a daily training regime. You have to be strong, not just physically but mentally so you can sit fearlessly in your saddle, face your rival and offer yourself as a target."
