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Skateboarding is one of the six new sports getting in.
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The Summer Olympics will have six new sports in '20, marking the “most comprehensive evolution” in the history of the Games, according to the IOC. The IOC voted on Wednesday to add baseball/softball, skateboarding, surfing, climbing and karate to the Tokyo 2020 program. The sports would add 18 total events and 474 athletes to the Olympics, despite persistent concerns about the scope of the Games becoming unwieldy.
“It is a significant number, and I hope there will be no problems at the last minute with accommodations,” said IOC member Prince Albert of Monaco, before joining in an unopposed voice vote.
The new sports may be short-timers. Under reforms approved by the IOC in 2013, host cities may propose specific sports for their Games with no guarantees that they would remain on the program for the future. Nevertheless, the sport federations were ecstatic for the opportunity to prove their worth.
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The new sports will add a total of 18 events and 474 athletes to the Olympic program.
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“This is a game-changing moment for surfing,” said International Surfing Association President Fernando Aguerre in a statement. “We are already seeing increased popularity of the sport across the world and the Olympic Games will provide an incredible platform to further showcase surfing and its core values.”
Skateboarding made the Games despite a dispute over its global governance, which was settled when the International Federation of Roller Sports and the International Skateboarding Federation agreed to share management of the inaugural Olympic competition.
“I’ve always believed that if skateboarding was properly protected and supported, its appearance on the Olympic stage could change the world,” said Gary Ream, president of the ISF and a member of the joint commission with the IFRS. Ream is also founder of the Woodward Camps action sports training property.
Baseball is heading to the Olympics despite not having a deal with Major League Baseball to provide its players. MLB executives and owners have been deeply skeptical about stopping the season for a July tournament in '20, though they have not ruled it out.
“We are excited about the IOC’s announcement restoring baseball and softball to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Baseball and softball are global sports that belong in the Olympics.”
Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, said, “This historic day puts the Olympic Games in the sights of millions of baseball and softball players around the world.”
The IOC no longer has a strict cap of 28 sports for the Summer Games, instead taking an “events-based” approach designed to allow for more flexibility. Other recent changes to the Olympic Charter suggest that flexibility should not exceed a cap of 10,500 athletes and 310 events unless local organizers agree. However, with today’s additions, the Tokyo contingent will likely hit 11,000 athletes competing in 324 events.
The new sport federations will not share in Olympic revenue; only the 28 sports represented in Rio will participate in the financial upside. But none have publicly complained about that detail.
