IOC approves five new sports for Tokyo Olympics

  • Thread starter wewake
  • Start date
  • Replies: Replies 0
  • Views: Views 827

wewake

Member
Joined
2 Jul 2014
Messages
1,237
Reaction score
1,434
Skateboarding, surfing and climbing are among five new sports confirmed for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Karate and baseball/softball have also been added by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The five extra sports, which do not replace any of the 28 already on the Tokyo schedule, will include 18 events and involve hundreds of athletes.

Baseball and softball featured separately between 1992 and 2008, but made a joint bid to be readmitted.
None of the other sports have been included before, though surf lifesaving was a demonstration sport at the Paris Games in 1900.

The five sports were all recommended by Tokyo organisers in July and unanimously backed by the executive board of the IOC, which subsequently described them as "a dynamic and exciting package"
ahead of this final confirmation at the 129th IOC session on Wednesday.

The IOC said it hopes the "innovative" move will draw in new audiences by focusing inclusions on youth-oriented sports.

"We want to take sport to the youth," said IOC president Thomas Bach.

"With the many options that young people have, we cannot expect any more that they will come automatically to us. We have to go to them."

Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori added: "The inclusion of the package of new sports will afford young athletes the chance of a lifetime to realise their dreams of competing in the Olympic Games - the world's greatest sporting stage - and inspire them to achieve their best, both in sport and in life."

The unanimous decision to confirm the five new sports was made two days before the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Games.

Olympics: Baseball/softball, sport climbing, surfing, karate, skateboarding at Tokyo 2020 - BBC Sport
 
Back
Top Bottom
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock