Should Indoor Skydiving Become an Olympic Sport

Should indoor skydiving become an Olympic sport? We won’t beat around the bush here – our answer is an absolute, yes. With indoor skydiving, people of almost all ages and abilities (starting at 3 years old and up) can become a participant so it’s not limited only to those that are ready for the thrill of exiting an airplane roughly two miles above the ground. So why do we think indoor skydiving should be an Olympic sport? Keep reading to find out.

Indoor Skydiving Is (Already) a Competitive Sport

The indoor skydiving wind tunnel is the vertical arena where skydivers can not only hone their freefall skills but anyone can become skilled in the wind tunnel – you don’t even have to be a skydiver. While indoor skydiving isn’t quite a main-stream sport just yet, it is definitely a sport as it’s highly physical. There are also various disciplines and styles of indoor skydiving so you can compete as a solo flyer or as a team of people. The more you fly in the tunnel, the better you become at it.

Indoor Skydiving Will Undoubtedly Draw a Crowd

In order for a sport to be considered for the Olympics, it must be popular both nationally and internationally. Let’s be honest, who isn’t fascinated with people flying their body in a windy tube? From the moment you see someone step into the tunnel through the side door, you’ll be filled with a sense of awe and wonder that you can’t help but tell people about it. A sport must also have gender equality, which of course indoor skydiving does – even those with disabilities can participate.

Indoor Skydiving Thinks Outside the Box

Promoting growth as a person means thinking outside of the box. Or perhaps, reinventing the box completely, as in the case of indoor skydiving. Research shows that the average American spends around 5% of their life learning in a traditional classroom environment and 95% in non-traditional settings like zoos, museums and aquariums, and more. These out-of-the-box settings are critical not only for academic achievement but also help to develop critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity skills. Basically, life skills can be learned in the wind tunnel, regardless of age.

Indoor Skydiving Improves Health

If you stand at the glass of an “indoor skydiving” vertical wind tunnel and take one look at the ecstatic faces zipping by, there will be no question in your mind that indoor skydiving is more than a little bit of fun. Not only is indoor skydiving good for mental health, but it also helps improve physical, emotional and spiritual health and overall well-being. You’ll be unable to worry about anything else that might be going on in your life when you’re in the tunnel because you’ll be so focused on all the new sensations.

Indoor Skydiving Isn’t That Risky

While absolutely no sporting activity is without risk, the wind tunnel is gentler than it sounds. There’s no big leap required to enter a wind tunnel – in fact, it’s advised not to leap through the door. And unlike outdoor skydiving, there’s no heavy equipment to wear and there’s no landing to worry about. In fact, flying in the tunnel places less stress on the body than most weekend bicycle rides. That said, tunnel flying is not a totally risk-free, harmless environment. As with anything that’s worth doing, there’s the potential for injury but when they happen, tunnel injuries generally show up as bumps and scrapes.

Here at Skydive Perris, we are wholeheartedly behind the effort to get indoor skydiving recognized as an Olympic sport in 2024. Are you with us? If you’ve never flown your body in a wind tunnel, we’d love to have you come to visit us to see what it’s all about. Once you do, we think you’ll start to agree that it should become an Olympic sport.