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“If you want to tick the boxes of why squash should be an Olympic sport, we tick every box twice over,” said Natalie Grainger, squash director at Chelsea Piers and currently the top ranked women’s player in the United States.
Grainger has worked to make her sport part of the Olympic Games. She says the creation of Squash TV and advances in technology to capture the game for television has helped its bid. She hopes that the Xodus 7 Continent Challenge will show the International Olympic Committee that people care about the sport.
“Until the final decision is made, I don’t know if anyone truly knows what they are looking for,” she said of the committee.
The sport has hired Vero Campaigning Communications to handle squash’s bid, and Grainger feels it is “in good hands.” The committee will be holding meetings in May and will be deciding on sports for the 2020 games in September.
The challenge began April 13 and has former No. 1 player Peter Nicol and Tim Garner, formerly the 26th ranked player in the world, attempting to play seven matches in seven days on seven continents. After three matches, Garner led, 2-1.
“It’s one of these trips that’s unique, and that’s probably never going to be done again,” Grainger said, adding that they will submit their trek to the Guinness Book of World Records and are raising money for charities as well.
The event will run from noon to 8:30 p.m. with various squash matches and events, including a doubles match with Grainger, taking place before the match between Garner and Nicol scheduled for 7:30 p.m. General admission for the event is $25, and Chelsea Piers will have bleachers and plenty of space for people to watch the match.
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