The organizing committee of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games announced one Monday that they are proposing 18 events in five sports to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be added to the program of the 2020 Olympics. Baseball and Softball have made the cut besides Surfing, Sports Climbing, Karate and Skateboard.
The Tokyo 2020 organizers propose two six-team Baseball and Softball tournaments for overall 234 athletes to the IOC. Baseball teams would consist of 24 players per team, softball squads of 15. If all five sports will be added to the Olympic program, 474 additional athletes would participate in the Olympics in 2020.
The final decision will be made the IOC at the 129th IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro in August 2016. Until then all baseball and softball fans around the world still need to cross their fingers.
Press Release by Tokyo 2020:
The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee today announced that it has proposed 18 additional events from five sports to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for inclusion at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad (Tokyo 2020). It has become the first ever organising committee to be given this unique opportunity to contribute to the design of the Olympic Programme, thanks to Olympic Agenda 2020.
The 18 proposed events are (sport alphabetical order):
Sports Events (Proposal) No of Events No of Athletes (total) Baseball / Softball Baseball (M) 1 144 (6 teams x 24 athletes) Softball (W) 1 90 (6 teams x 15 athletes) Karate Kata (W / M) 2 20 (10 W / 10 M) Kumite (3 weight classes – W / M) 6 60 (30 W / 30 M) Skateboard Street (W / M) 2 40 (20 W / 20 M) Park (W / M) 2 40 (20 W / 20 M) Sports Climbing Bouldering, Lead and Speed Combined (W / M) 2 40 (20 W / 20 M) Surfing Shortboard (W / M) 2 40 (20 W / 20 M) Total 18 474 This package of events represents both traditional and emerging, youth-focused events, all of which are popular both in Japan and internationally. They will serve as a driving force to further promote the Olympic Movement and its values, with a focus on youth appeal, and will add value to the Games by engaging the Japanese population and new audiences worldwide, reflecting the Tokyo 2020 Games vision.