Very strong, these Japanese. Very surprising, above all. The Tokyo Games organizing committee took everyone by surprise this Monday, September 28, when it announced the new sports proposed on the 2020 Olympics program. We expected two or three, hardly more. There will ultimately be five. No less than five international federations selected, out of the eight which appeared since last June in the list of finalists: baseball and softball, karate, climbing, surfing and rollerblading. The three failed: squash, once again, bowling, although very popular in Japan, and wushu, presented as a demonstration at the Youth Games in Nanjing in 2014.
The organizing committee announced this Monday during a press conference in Tokyo. An announcement supplemented by the details of the disciplines and, above all, the number of new athletes that such a modification of the program would bring into the 2020 Olympics. The baseball tournament would involve 6 teams of 24 players, or 144 athletes. Its female counterpart, softball, would also have 6 teams, but with only 15 players per country, or 90 athletes. In total, 234 newcomers to the Games. It's a lot.
In climbing, the discipline chosen by the Japanese is the combination of bouldering, difficulty and speed. One event for boys, another for girls, 20 competitors on each side, or 40 new ones. Correct. For karate, the selection committee did not save money: 2 events in kata (men and women), 6 others in kumite (3 weight categories for each of the two sexes), for a total of 80 fighters . Ouch.
In roller skating, where the chosen disciplines concern skateboarding, things look the same: two “street” events, one for boys, one for girls, plus two others in “park”. Twenty competitors per discipline, or 80 athletes. Finally, surfing would almost appear as a small player with its 40 surfers, 20 boys and 20 girls, all involved in a single discipline, shortboarding.
On arrival, the Japanese are not afraid of anything: they propose to the IOC to make room in the Tokyo Games program for 474 new athletes, invited to perform in 18 new events. In a statement released immediately after announcing its decision, the Tokyo Games organizing committee explained that "this combination of events represents both traditional sports and emerging sports, popular with youth, as well in Japan and internationally”.
At this stage of the process, the five international federations do not yet really have the right to declare themselves “Olympic”. And not entirely interesting either. The Japanese are only “recommending” new sports. The final decision will be made by the IOC. It will be taken by all of its members next August, during the session organized in Rio de Janeiro on the sidelines of the 2016 Games.
How will they react to the generosity of the Japanese choice? Not easy. The IOC finds itself somewhat faced with squaring the circle. It must respect the resolutions of its 2020 Agenda by giving more flexibility to the program, therefore by letting in as many new sports as possible. At the same time, there is no longer any question for Thomas Bach and his team of increasing the size of the Games, particularly in terms of athlete participation.
By validating the recommendations of the Japanese organizers through a registration vote next August, the IOC would find itself forced to exclude from the Tokyo Games just under 500 athletes in disciplines already present. To do this, he will have to arm himself with a machete and cut through the fat of the current program. At the risk of displeasing the international federations, who are very worried about their sport. Conversely, rejecting the Japanese proposals would require the IOC to make the choices for them and, above all, to justify the reasons. In any case, the next session of the Olympic organization promises to be exciting.
