What 5 Sports Were Added to the 2020 Olympics?

The 2020 Summer Olympics will see the return of baseball and softball, as well as the addition of karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing.

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Tokyo 2020

The Tokyo 2020 Games will feature 33 sports and a total of 339 events – five more sports than at Rio 2016. Baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing were added following a vote by the International Olympic Committee in August 2016, while the return of baseball/softball will come after a 12-year absence from the Olympic programme. Here’s a closer look at the five sports that will make their Olympic debut in Tokyo.

Baseball/Softball

Baseball and softball return to the Olympics for the first time since 2008. Baseball was a demonstration sport in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and both sports were official medal sports in the 1992 Barcelona Games, but they were dropped from the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic program.

The International Olympic Committee voted in 2013 to reinstate baseball and softball for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. The two sports will be played in separate tournaments, with each featuring six teams. The top four finishers in each tournament will advance to the semifinals.

Karate

Karate was one of the five sports added to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The sport has been around for centuries and is practiced by millions of people around the world. Karate is a martial art that focuses on striking techniques, such as punches and kicks. The sport is categorized into three different disciplines: kata (forms), kumite (sparring), and
bunkai (application).

Skateboarding

When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to add five new sports to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, they made a big splash in the world of extreme sports. Among the newcomers are surfing, skateboarding, karate, baseball/softball and climbing. Here’s a closer look at each of these addition:

Skateboarding: Skateboarding will make its Olympic debut in Tokyo, with events for both men and women. There will be two medal events: street skateboarding and park skateboarding. In street skateboarding, athletes will compete on a course made up of various obstacles such as stairs, rails and ledges. Park skateboarding will take place on a specially designed course that simulates a skate park.

Surfing: Surfing makes its Olympic debut in Tokyo, with two medal events: shortboard and longboard. In shortboard, athletes will compete on boards that are no longer than 2.1 meters (6.9 feet). Longboarders will compete on boards that are up to 2.4 meters (7.8 feet) long.

Karate: Karate makes its debut as an official Olympic sport in Tokyo, with medals up for grabs in men’s and women’s kumite (sparring) and kata (forms). Kumite is a full-contact sparring event, while kata is a non-competitive event in which athletes perform pre-arranged sequences of moves.

Baseball/Softball: Baseball and softball return to the Olympics after being absent from the 2012 London Games and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. Baseball will feature men’s teams only, while softball will feature women’s teams only.

Climbing: Climbing makes its Olympic debut in Tokyo, with medals up for grabs in three events: sport climbing, bouldering and lead climbing. Sport climbing combines elements of both lead climbing and bouldering; climbers attempt to reach the top of a route as quickly as possible without falling. Bouldering involves climbs that are lower off the ground and do not require ropes; climbers have a set time limit to complete each boulder problem. Lead climbing is similar to sport climbing, but climbers are not allowed to pre-set any ropes prior to beginning their ascent; ropes are placed by other climbers as they move up the route.

Surfing

The International Surfing Association (ISA) is the world governing body for surfing, stand up paddle (SUP) and surf lifesaving. The ISA’s primary purpose is to develop the sport of surfing, including through the Olympic Games.

The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo will see the debut of surfing, along with sport climbing, karate, skateboarding, and baseball/softball. These five sports were added to the 2020 Games by a unanimous vote of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Rio de Janeiro on August 3rd, 2016.

Surfing will take place at Tsurigasaki beach in Chiba prefecture, just outside of Tokyo. The competition will be held over a period of 10 days from July 25th to August 4th. A total of 40 athletes (20 men and 20 women) will compete in two separate events: shortboard and longboard.

Climbing

Climbing was one of the five sports added to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Climbing will be contested in three disciplines: bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing. There will be a total of 20 medals up for grabs in climbing.

The 5 New Sports

The 2020 Summer Olympics will include five new sports: baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, surfing, and sport Climbing. These sports were chosen for their popularity with young people.

Baseball/Softball

Baseball and softball were added to the 2020 Olympics lineup in a joint bid. Baseball was last played at the Olympic games in 2008, while softball was cut from the 2012 games. The two sports will make a comeback in Tokyo in 2020, though it remains to be seen which nations will field teams.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been working to add more gender-equal sports to the games, and baseball/softball’s return helps toward that goal. In 2020, there will be a total of 33 sports on the program (up from 31 in 2016), with five new disciplines included: baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing.

Karate

One of the most popular martial arts in the world, karate, will make its debut as an Olympic sport at the 2020 Tokyo games. There will be two medal events: kata and kumite. Karatekas in the kata event will compete alone, performing a set routine of moves, while those in the kumite event will face off against an opponent in a sparring match.

Skateboarding

Skateboarding will make its Olympic debut in Tokyo this summer as part of the 2020 Summer Olympics. The sport was approved by the International Olympic Committee in August 2016.

Skateboarding will be contested in two disciplines: Park and Street. Park skateboarding will take place in a specially designed skate park, while Street skateboarding will take place on a street course designed to replicate real-world skating conditions.

There will be 20 medal events in total: 10 for Park and 10 for Street. Skateboarding will be open to both men and women, with each discipline having equal representation.

Surfing

The International Surfing Association (ISA) is the world governing authority for surfing, stand up paddle (SUP), and bodyboarding. ISA membership includes national federations from around the world and works closely with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to develop surfing as an official Olympic sport.

In September 2016, the IOC voted to include surfing in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. Surfing will make its official Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, with two events:
– Men’s and women’s shortboard
– Men’s and women’s longboard.

Format:
– Qualifying will be based on results from selected World Surfing League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT) events, held between 2019 and 2020. The top 18 men and top nine women finishers on the WSL CT rankings will automatically qualify to compete at the Olympics.
– A maximum of four athletes per gender can qualify from each National Olympic Committee (NOC), with a maximum of two athletes per NOC in each shortboard event, and one athlete per NOC in each longboard event.
– The final field of 36 athletes (18 men, 18 women) will be decided by April 2020, based on a combination of finishes on the WSL CT rankings and results from continental qualifying events.

Climbing

The international Olympic Committee has added five new sports to the 2020 summer games in Tokyo — baseball/softball, karate, skateboarding, surfing, and climbing.

Climbing will consist of three events: sport climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing. In sport climbing, athletes will scale a designated route up a wall that is 15 to 20 meters tall. Bouldering entails completing multiple routes of varying difficulty on a 4 to 5 meter wall within a time limit of four minutes. The last event, speed climbing, is a race to the top of a 15 meter wall.

The IOC has been gradually adding more extreme and youthful sports in an effort to appeal to a wider demographic and lure athletes away from traditional disciplines such as track and field, swimming, and gymnastics. Surfing and skateboarding are two other examples of sports that have been added in recent years.

The popularity of climbing has exploded in recent years thanks in part to Hollywood blockbusters such as Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and 127 Hours. The sport was also featured prominently in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang where athletes competed in ice climbing.