TOKYO – Japanese organizers on Monday proposed adding five sports to the program of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics: baseball-softball, karate, skateboarding, sports climbing and surfing.
The organizing committee approved the recommendations from a list of eight finalists. Bowling, squash and wushu failed to make the cut.
The recommendation will be submitted to the International Olympic Committee, which will make a final decision in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016.
Under the “Olympic Agenda 2020” program adopted by the IOC last December, host cities are allowed to propose one or more additional events for their games.
The proposed new events would add 18 events and 474 athletes to the Tokyo Games.
“This package of events represents both traditional and emerging, youth-focused events, all of which are popular both in Japan and internationally,” the organizing committee said in a statement. “This will serve as a driving force to further promote the Olympic movement and its values.”
Twenty-six sports had originally applied for consideration. The eight sports made a short list that was announced in June.
Baseball and softball have been out of the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games, and their proposed inclusion had been considered a virtual certainty because of the high popularity of those sports in Japan.
Under the recommendations, the men’s baseball tournament would consist of six teams and 144 total players, while the women’s softball competition would have six teams and 90 players.
Karate would have eight men’s and women’s events and a total of 80 athletes; skateboarding proposes two street and two park events for 80 athletes; sports climbing has two events in bouldering, lead and speed combined for 40 athletes; and surfing would have two shortboard events for 40 competitors.
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