Five New Sports Introduced In Olympic Games 2020

The 2020 Olympic Games is scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan, from July 24, 2020, to August 9, 2020. It is the practice of the Olympics organizers to add new sports activities to the Olympic Games every 4 years. Keeping with the ritual, according to Olympics.org, the forthcoming Olympic Games will have five new games namely baseball, softball, karate, surfing, sport climbing, and skateboarding. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved the inclusion of all these five games in the 2020 Olympics.

5. Baseball/softball -

Both baseball and softball will be introduced in Olympics 2020. Quite popular in Japan, softball is part of a category of ball sports known as rounders. It used to be a famous game in Ireland and Great Britain during the 18th century. Playing the sport involves having two teams, the offense and defense, made up of 9 players each. The offense team bats whereas the defense team pitches and fields. A team wins by scoring highly on the base to base runs that cover four bases. The difference between softball and baseball is that pitchers in a softball game throw the balls underhand instead of overhand as in the case of the baseball game. Both men and women will be playing baseball/softball at the Olympics 2020.

4. Karate -

Karate is a martial art that entails moves such as kicking, striking, and defensive blocking with arms and legs. The game has its origin in East Asia from whence it has evolved over the years to the karate played today. The first country to modernize the game was Japan. Karate has a complex ranking system symbolized by the color of the belts of the players. During the 2020 Olympics, there will be only two categories of Karate, namely Kata and Kumite. The judges will adjudicate on the basis of breathing, strength, focus, rhythm, and speed of the participant. On the other hand, Kumite is a Karate game whereby the opponents will score points on the basis of the punches, strikes, kicks, and throws. Players of Kumite and Kata will be both male and female.

3. Skateboard -

Skateboarding is a game that has gained popularity with the millennials’ generation. The major types of the game that will be featured at the 2020 Olympics will be Park and Street. Park involves skating on ramps and is judged based on the speed and height of the jumps as well as the grabs made while playing the game. On the other hand, Street involves skating in urban environments filled with obstacles such as benches, boxes, and stair sets. It is adjudicated on the basis of the difficulty of the maneuvers.

2. Sport Climbing -

Sport climbing is a rock climbing game that focuses on climbing artificial walls. The three noteworthy categories of the game that will be featured during the 2020 Olympics include speed climbing, bouldering, and lead climbing. Speed climbing involves opponents climbing a 15-meter wall with the winner being the fastest climber. On the other hand, bouldering takes the form of climbing an assigned section of rocks or climbing walls without using ropes. Finally, lead climbing incorporates the use of ropes to climb a designated route on a climbing wall or rock.

1. Surfing -

Surfing is an aquatic sport that entails riding on a wave that eventually takes the surfer towards the shore. During the Olympics 2020, competitors will ride on real waves at the Shidshita beach which is located about 40 miles from Tokyo. Surfers with the best maneuvering skills based on the difficulty, speed, flow, and power will carry the day.