With the 2020 (2021) Olympic games just around the corner, it is time to introduce the 5 new sports that will be present in Tokyo. This article will provide an overview of the new sports and explaining how they will operate during the games. The 5 new sports are as follows:
1. Sport Climbing
2. Surfing
3. Skateboarding
4. Karate
5. Baseball/Softball
Sport Climbing
Climbing has been a form of physical activity enjoyed by many for hundreds of years. However, you may be surprised to hear that competitive climbing only first appeared in 1985. For many, the competitive aspect has been a huge factor for the sport’s recent growth in popularity.
The popularity of climbing as both a recreational past-time and a sporting competition has caused an increase in indoor climbing facilities all over the world, making it more accessible for people to start climbing.
As a result, Sport Climbing has been rewarded with a spot in the 2020 Olympics. The new event will also have a unique structure compared to other Olympic competitions.
Sport Climbing will showcase three disciplines, speed climbing, bouldering, and lead climbing. But instead of having three separate competitions for each discipline, they will be combined into one event.
This means that the winner will have to perform well in all three disciplines, which will be difficult due to the differences in skill required for each event.
Speed climbing places two climbers against each other in a race to the top of a 15m wall. The fastest climber overall will win the event with all other competitors being ranked by time. Any false starts with be an instant disqualification.
Bouldering will see athletes climb multiple walls with no safety ropes attached. The aim is to climb as many walls as possible within 4 minutes. They are not allowed any practice beforehand and must grab the final hold on each route with both hands in order to complete it.
Finally, lead climbing provides a difficult 15m wall for climbers to attempt. The objective is to climb as high as possible without falling. When an athlete falls, the height they reached is recorded. There is also a 6 minute time limit and in the case of a draw, the climber to achieve the height in the fastest time wins.
To determine an overall winner, the rankings of each event will be multiplied together and the athlete with the lowest score will receive the gold medal.
Surfing
Similar to Climbing, Surfing has been a popular activity for centuries. For many, Surfing represents a lifestyle in which emphasises an appreciation of the ocean and a dedication to the craft. Making the lifestyle very suitable for elite athletes and adventurers.
The first mentions of surfing were found on cave paintings in Polynesia. However, the sport only became a global entity in the early 1900’s with the help of Duke Kahanamoku.
‘The Duke’ was a talented swimmer who loved to surf. After winning gold at the 1912 Olympics, he travelled the world teaching other cultures how to surf. This created a more competitive nature for Surfing which has led to it’s introduction in this year’s Olympic games.
The Olympic competition will use shortboards and will be scored by judges. Also, there will be a heat structure, with round 1 having 4 surfers competing in each heat. The 2 best surfers from each heat will advance to the next round.
Round 2 will see 5 surfers facing off, with the top 3 advancing into the knockout stages. The knockout rounds place 2 surfers head-to-head with the winners advancing to the next round. This will continue until the medallists are decided.
This structure is a more traditional format for Olympic competitions. Both Men’s and Women’s events will follow this format.
Skateboarding
This sport continues the trend of an activity that has grown in popularity in recent years, resulting in the emergence of a competitive sport. However, Skateboarding is fairly new in comparison to Climbing and Surfing as the activity was developed in the 1950’s.
Skateboarding takes a lot of inspiration from Surfing. A number of surfers in California and Hawaii wanted to transfer their sport and lifestyle onto the streets, so they decided to design what we know today as a Skateboard.
Over the next few decades, the past-time grew in popularity all over the US and eventually, all over the world. As a results, skate parks have become popular features for leisure centres and parks. This has also developed the competition into a sport worthy of the Olympic games.
Two Skateboarding disciplines will be on display in Tokyo, Park and Street. Street Skateboarding will take place on courses that possess natural obstacles such as stairs, benches, walls, and rails. Alternatively, Park Skateboarding will occur on a smooth, dome-shaped surface that has various slopes for skaters to go up.
Both competitions will follow a two-round process of prelims and finals. The prelims will be separated into 4 heats of 5 skaters. The 8 highest-ranked athletes will then progress to the finals. The scoring will be decided by 5 judges using a 1-10 scaled point system.
Karate
Martial arts have been a constant presence in the Olympic games. Combat sports such as Pankration, a hybrid of boxing and wrestling, allowed athletes to display their strength and power during the ancient Olympic games.
As one of the more modern forms of martial arts, Karate is the latest addition to the list of combat sports found at the Olympic games. However, the sport will not be a permanent fixture as it will not appear on the 2024 Olympic schedule.
Although elements of Karate are mentioned centuries ago, the first evidence of the current form can be traced back to 1868 in Okinawa, Japan. Karate became popular across Japan during the early 20th century and became an international sensation after the second world war.
To celebrate the popular Japanese sport, an honorary position was handed to the sport in the 2020 Olympics.
There will be two forms of Karate at the Olympics, Kata and Kumite. Kata is a non-combative discipline in which athletes demonstrate a variety of offensive and defensive movement and are judged on their performance.
Kumite is a head-to-head competition where two individuals fight each other on a mat. Karateka will be awarded points when they successfully strike their opponent in certain areas. The competitor with an 8 point lead or with the most points at the end of 3 minutes will be declared the winner.
Baseball/Softball
The final additions to the schedule for the Tokyo Olympics are Baseball and Softball. The national sport of America is considered an evolution to classic bat and ball games such as Rounders and Cricket.
References to Baseball, or games of a similar structure, can be tracked back to the mid-18th century. However, it would be a century later when the game became fully established. In 1845, Alex Cartwright, a founding member of the New York Knickerbockers, would create a set of rules for the game of Baseball.
Whilst the new game continued to grow in popularity, the older version with a soft ball remained popular among many. To this day, the two versions continue to be a popular activity across America. This popularity has also begun to spread to some other countries like Japan and Australia.
Unlike the other sports mentioned, Baseball and Softball have appeared in the Olympics before. They were introduced in 1992 and 1996 respectively but were taken off the program after the Beijing Olympics in 2008. However, they have been brought back temporarily due to their popularity in Japan.
Both sports will have six teams participating, with the Men’s team playing Baseball and the Women playing Softball. Baseball will start with a group stage and then advance to a knockout stage, whilst Softball will have a round robin followed by a final and bronze medal match.
Other Additions
Along with the new Sports coming to the Tokyo Olympics, some existing sports will be receiving some new additions such as new events and formats.
One of the larger scale changes to the Olympics this year is the introduction of team events in a variety of sports. Swimming, Athletics, Shooting, Judo, Table-Tennis, Archery, and Triathlon will have a mixed team event in their program at this summer’s games. The current push for gender equality in sport has encouraged the IOC to introduce mixed-gender events.
Basketball will have an innovative 3vs3 format at this year’s games. Many of the rules are similar to the traditional 5vs5 games. However, the new game will be played on a half court with a 10 minute time limit or first to 21 point system. The points for shots will also be 2 and 1 points instead of the usual 3 and 2 point system.
A Freestyle BMX event will also be introduced to the program. Taking inspiration from the Skateboarding format, the event will see athletes completing tricks rather than racing.
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