IOC approves five new sports for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games

TIL Desk Sports/ The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved five new sports for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, comprising baseball and softball, karate, skateboard, sports climbing and surfing. The decision taken on Wednesday by the 129th IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro underlined the top sports organisation’s effort to attract more participation.

The IOC session voted unanimously in favour of the sports which were proposed by the 2020 organisers and will make a one-off appearance in the Games. “Today’s (Wednesday) vote was the culmination of a two-year process that began with the unanimous approval of the IOC’s strategic roadmap in 2014.

The recommendation to give Organising Committees the flexibility to propose new sports for their edition of the Games was intended to put even more focus on innovation, flexibility and youth in the development Olympic programme,” said the IOC in a statement. “We want to take sport to the youth… Tokyo 2020’s balanced proposal fulfils all of the goals of the Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendation that allowed it,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.