Olympics Games News and Updates: 5 New Sports for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics
Recently, the International Olympic Committee approved the following games for the 2020 Summer Olympics which will be held in Tokyo, Japan -- surfing, sports climbing, skateboarding, karate and baseball/softball.
The five new sports won't replace any of the 28 sports that have already booked their spot in the Tokyo Olympics.
By adding sports climbing and skateboarding, the Olympic Committee is basically saying that the Summer Olympics need to reach out to the younger audience. The addition of these two sports also makes the games more metropolitan.
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In fact, according to Yoshiro Mori, president of Tokyo 2020, "The inclusion of the package of new sports will afford young athletes the chance of a lifetime to realize their dreams of competing in the Olympic Games."
Olympic Agenda 2020
The addition of five new sports is, in no small measure, due to the Olympic Agenda 2020, which is "the strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic movement."
In the Olympic Agenda, organizing committees are given more leeway when it comes to adding new sports which they think will make the Olympics more innovative, flexible and caters more to the youth.
Tokyo 2020 is the first committee to use the changes set forth in this agenda. Let's take a closer look at the newly added sports.
Baseball/Softball
Women's softball and men's baseball are very popular in Japan, so there's no doubt the team proposed the addition of these sports to the Olympics. Both sports were once in the Olympics but were eliminated in 2008, the Beijing Olympics.
Karate
The origins of Karate can be traced back to Japan. In fact, the World Karate Federation celebrates this new milestone, with the federation's website describing the occasion as "a moment of great joy for Karate."
Antonio Espinos, president of the World Karate Federation, says that holding the first Olympic Karate games in Tokyo is just fitting; "There couldn't be a better place," he said.
Skateboarding
Gary Ream, president of the Skateboard Federation, is grateful to the Tokyo 2020 Skateboarding Commission and the Federation Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS), as they collaborated to make including Skateboarding in the 2020 Olympics a success.
Neal Hendrix, an American professional skateboarder, will be the Tokyo 2020 Skateboarding Commission's athlete representative.
Surfing
Surfing will add something new to the Olympics program because of the cool and playful lifestyle it brings along with it, according to Fernando Aguerre, the president of the International Surfing Association.
Sport Climbing
Sport climbing is very popular worldwide. According to Sport Climbing Australia, 25 million people around the world are sport climbing regularly, while the number of climbing gyms has increased by more than half from 2007 to 2012.
After including sport climbing as one of the demonstration sports in the Youth Olympic Games held in Nanjing, China last year, it is now officially a part of the list of Olympic Games.
