5 new sports to watch at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics

With the 32nd edition of the Summer Olympics a few months away, it's a good time to take a look at the 5 new sports that will be included in the Tokyo Olympics. The IOC approved the addition of surfing, skateboarding, sport climbing, karate, and baseball/softball at the Games.

The postponed Tokyo Olympics will feature a total of 33 sports at the most competitive level over several weeks. This decision was taken at the 129th IOC session in Rio de Janerio, which was proposed by the Organizing Committee of the Tokyo Games.

Let's have a look at the five new sports which are a combination of established and emerging youth-focused events that are popular in Japan:

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#1 Surfing

Tsurigasaki Beach: Location for Olympic Surfing in Japan

The world's best surfers will make their debut at the Tokyo Olympics on the Pacific coast of Japan. The Tsurigasaki Beach in Chiba Prefecture will host the first-ever surfing event at the Olympics. Both men's and women's categories will be included in the event.

#2 Skateboarding

Olympic Skateboard qualifier Tyler Edtmayer trains in Austria

Interestingly, there will be two categories of skateboarding - park, and street. The street category will have a straight route that imitates a street with stairs, handrails, boxes, and benches. The park category, meanwhile, will take place on a surface with slopes and complicated curves.

#3 Sport Climbing

Sport Climbing Olympic qualifications were held in Sydney

Sport climbing is a form of rock climbing that will be held on artificial climbing walls. Moreover, it will feature three disciplines at the Tokyo Olympics — bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing. Speed climbing will pit two climbers against one another on a 15m wall. In bouldering, athletes will scale some fixed routes on a 4.5m wall within a specified time. In lead climbing, athletes will try to climb as high as possible on a 15m wall within a specified time.

#4 Karate

Karate

Karate will make its debut at the Tokyo Olympics with both men and women competing in Kata (forms) and Kumite (sparring) events. This will take place in Nippon Budokan. Moreover, it will involve three weight categories both in men's (67kg, -75kg, +75kg) and women's (-55kg, -61kg, +61kg).

#5 Baseball and Softball

Softball at 2008 Beijing Olympics

Baseball and its sister sport, softball have has been reintroduced at the Olympics after their last appearance at the 2008 Beijing Games. Softball uses a smaller playing area, with a shorter distance between the pitcher and the batter as compared to baseball. Moreover, the ball is larger and less dense, and the bat is not longer than 34 inches, compared to 42 inches in baseball.

In addition to the 5 new sports, Tokyo Olympics will feature 15 new disciplines to promote women's participation and equality.