Bach said the popularity of baseball and softball in Japan was the key reason those sports were returning to the Olympic program in 2020.
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The IOC session in the Brazilian city voted unanimously with a show of hands in favour of the sports which will make a one-off appearance in the Games. This further enunciates the critical agenda of the International Olympic Committee to create a platform that would allow increased participation of young people and her pledge to urbanize the sport. The Tokyo Games will feature 33 sports and about 11,000 athletes, compared with the usual number of 28 sports and 10,500 athletes. The recommendation to give Organising Committees the flexibility to propose new sports for their edition of the Games was meant to put even more focus on innovation, flexibility and youth in the development Olympic programme. We saw surges back in the 1990s when it first became part of the Olympic program.
World Baseball and Softball Confederation President Riccardo Fraccari said following the vote, “today’s historic decision by the International Olympic Committee is a “home run” for the Olympics, our sport and the Tokyo 2020 Games”.
“What a truly great day for the sports of softball and baseball”, USA Softball Executive Director Craig Cress said, per Helene Elliott, Los Angeles Times.
Three-time World Cup champion Pele says he was invited to light the cauldron at the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, but sponsorship deals could stop him from performing the prestigious task.
That’s because skateboarding is one of five sports – along with karate, surfing, sports climbing and baseball/softball – that the International Olympic Committee has added to the next edition of the Summer Games at Tokyo 2020.
Baseball and softball are very popular in Japan, as of course is karate, which originated in the country. Skateboarding and sports climbing will no doubt add a different element of competition and athleticism.
“To make the competition more authentic and competitive, the surfing events will be held in the sea rather than on artificial waves”.
More than 2,000 hours of streaming sport are available on TV from Rio 2016. “They need skateboarding more than we need them”.
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“This is a game-changing moment for Surfing. Surfing continues to grow and seeing it reach the Olympic level is really exciting”, said John John Florence, current WSL #2.
