Five new sports will join the Olympic roster at the Japan 2020 Games as organisers hope to spread the appeal to younger fans.
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Tokyo Games chief Yoshiro Mori added: “I am so happy and so thrilled and I may have lost some of my composure”.
The addition of these five sports also has no impact on the number of athletes or events in the existing Olympic sports at Tokyo 2020, with those discussions being finalized in mid-2017.
The 18 new sports will welcome 474 new athlete’s to the games for their chance at winning a gold medal.
Baseball, surfing, skateboarding, climbing and karate are in, while squash, bowling and wushu are out for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
It said the decision was the most comprehensive evolution of the Olympic programme in modern history. It should be noted that the last time baseball and softball was considered an Olympic sport, you need to go back to 2008. Announced earlier today at a press conference in Rio De Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially named skateboarding as one of five sports which will make their olympic debut in 2020. The IOC voted them both out in 2005.
The worldwide federations for baseball and softball agreed to merge in 2012 and officially did so in 2013 to aid their collective bids for Olympic inclusion. The games will be played at a shared venue In Yokohama.
The IOC president, Thomas Bach, who insisted this week that the Russian doping crisis had not harmed the Olympics, said: “We want to take sport to the youth”.
Currently, the Summer Olympics offers a variety of sports.
According to the IOC’s 2020 reform agenda approved in 2014, each city hosting future Games may propose including new sports.
“What a truly great day for the sports of softball and baseball”, USA Softball Executive Director Craig Cress said.
The list of Olympics sports is about to get longer, again.
International Olympic Committee members voted 85-0 in favor but not before some concerns about baseball, whose US-based stars are not confirmed for the Games.
“Baseball is part of Japanese culture, it has to be in the Olympics”, Cromartie said. As home to the world’s best surfing, the WSL looks forward to working with the ISA to ensure that the sport is showcased in the best possible manner and with the world’s best athletes. Karate will have 80 athletes competing in mens and womens Kumite and Kata events, while surfing will have two shortboard events for 40 competitors.
The surfing competition will be held on natural waves at a beach location in Chiba prefecture. This “young and exciting” sport first came to the attention of International Olympic Committee talent scouts at previous World Games in Kaohsiung and Cali.
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By adding sports climbing and skateboarding, the Olympic Committee is basically saying that the Summer Olympics need to reach out to the younger audience.
