A full list of 2020 Tokyo Olympics medal events will be finalized by the IOC exec board next week, "one month ahead of schedule," according to the AP. Among "more than 60 proposals," 3-on-3 basketball is an "expected favorite" after all were analyzed by an IOC advisory panel. The decision is due on Friday at a board meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, "called at short notice to discuss awarding the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games hosting rights" to L.A. and Paris "at the same time later this year." The IOC said, "Now that we have an (executive board) meeting on June 9 it makes sense to use this opportunity. In addition, an early decision is clearly beneficial to all the parties involved." The half-court basketball format -- "close in spirit to neighborhood park pick-up games" -- once "seemed set for the 2016 Olympics." Its bid for inclusion was "curbed when organizers in Rio de Janeiro were stretched preparing for just the regular program" (AP, 6/2).
FLYING CARS: REUTERS' Kwiyeon Ha reported engineers, supported by Toyota Motor Corp., "demonstrated their flying car on Saturday, which they hope will be able to light up the Olympic flame" for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games. "Cartivator," a start-up group of about 30 engineers including some young Toyota employees, started to develop a flying car, "SkyDrive," in '14 "with the help of crowdfunding" (REUTERS, 6/3).
