The IOC's Obsession with Youth

Has anybody noticed how obsessed the IOC is with capturing the attention of youth? Recently in Copenhagen, they held a Congress (a pretty big deal in the Olympic Movement), and some of the biggest topics of conversation were social media, and youth in sport.

The IOC seems to have this huge fear that in 40 years, nobody will care about the Olympics anymore. That everyone will watch skateboarding instead of track and field or swimming. That the Olympic Movement will be lost in a sea of tweets and MySpace.

I wonder if they really have a grasp of the real public, and real youth. Last year, everybody stopped to watch Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. Including high schoolers. Why is there such a fear of irrelevance? If the IOC keeps the programme rolling, if Olympic Solidarity creates storylines, and if sports like Rugby and Golf (new to the programme, but still traditional sports) take off, the Olympics will do just fine.