5 sports that will debut at Tokyo Olympics 2020

Five new sports have been added to the Olympics. The Tokyo Olympics 2020 will see karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing make their Olympic debut. Baseball/Softball, which was earlier discontinued, makes its comeback at this edition of the Summer Olympics.

Here is everything you need to know about the new sports that will be seen at the Tokyo Games.

#1. Karate

Karate

Karate is a form of Japanese martial art. The word karate is derived by combining two Chinese characters: kara, which means empty, and te, which means hand. So Karate translates into empty hand. Karate is a form of martial art in which a person fights with their bare hands. A person practicing karate is called karateka.

At the Olympics, Karate will have two different competitions: Kumite and Kata.

In Kumite, two karateka, in two different colors, red and blue, will fight in an eight meter square area. Points are awarded for attacking the opponents. The goal is to have a clear eight-point lead over the opponent or have more points over the opponent before the time is up. There are three ways to earn points.

The Karateka earns one point for delivering a close-handed punch or strike to an opponent's head, neck, belly, side, back or torso. Two points are awarded, for landing a kick to the side, back, belly or torso of the opponent. Three points can be scored for hitting the head or neck of an opponent with a kick or if the opponent can be fallen on the floor.

Six gold medals are on offer at Tokyo Olympics 2020. There are three different weight categories for men and three different weight categories for women. They are:

Men's wight categories

• Less than 67 kg
• Less than 75 kg
• Greater than 75 kg

Women's weight categories

• Less than 55 kg
• Less than 61 kg
• Greater than 61 kg

Kata is an individual competition. Here a participant has to perform a series of demonstrations of offensive and defensive techniques against a virtual opponent. Players earn points from judges based on their power and form. The winner is declared by a pool of judges using an electronic voting system.

#2. Skateboarding

Skateboaring is also going to get global recognition with its debut at Tokyo Olympics 2020. Skateboarding will have two different events: park and street.

In park, skateboarders will perform in a bowl-like structure. For the street, a skateboarder will have to navigate her/his way through stairs, rails, curbs and other urban furniture.

Forty skaters, twenty each for park and street, will be in action at the Tokyo Games.

Both events will have two rounds prelims and finals. For both the events, the top-eight skaters from the prelims shall progress into the final.

For the park's final, a skater will have five 45-second runs. A skateboarder can be awarded points from 0 to 100. The skater's highest and lowest points will not be taken into consideration. The remaining three scores are averaged to two decimal places resulting in the final run score.

For the street's final, in each round, a skaters will perform two 45-second runs and five tricks. The judges will award points from 0 to 10.0. The highest and lowest scores for each run or trick are dropped, and the remaining three scores are averaged to one decimal place resulting in the final score.

#3. Sport climbing

Sport Climbing

Sport climbing will also be making its Olympic debut. In sport climbing, an athlete tries to climb an artificial wall while being harnessed by a rope.

Forty sport climbers will be in the fray at the Tokyo Games. Three varieties of sport climbing will be witnessed at these Games. They are: lead climbing, bouldering and speed climbing.

In lead climbing an athlete is supposed to climb a 15m high wall. The goal is to go as high as possible in a fixed time.

In bouldering the athlete has to overcome obstacles or problems on the wall. The athlete will be judged on the number of obstacles she/he overcomes on a 4.5m-high wall in a fixed time.

In speed climbing the goal is simple. The athlete has to climb the wall as quickly as possible without suffering any fall.

#4. Surfing

Surfing

The fourth sport that will appear on the Olympic stage for the first time is surfing. Like skateboarding and sport climbing, surfing too will have forty people competing for the medals. There will be twenty men and twenty women competitors at the Tokyo Games.

Surfing is done on either a longboard or a shortboard. Shortboards will be used for these Games. Surfers are allowed to ride a maximum of 25 waves during heats that are typically 30 minutes long, depending on the conditions.The judges will award points on the degree of difficulty, execution of moves by the surfer, speed, variety and more.

#5. Baseball/Softball

Baseball/Softball at Tokyo Olympics

Unlike, Karate, Skateboarding, Sport climbing and Surfing, Baseball/Softball will not be making their debuts at the Tokyo Games. Baseball/Softball will be returning to the Olympic fold after a long time.

Baseball was first made an Olympic medal event in 1992. The sport was removed from the Olympics at the Beijing Olympics 2008.

Softball has been an Olympic sport since 1996. At the Olympics it has been played as a women-only sport.

In baseball, two teams of nine players each compete to score more runs. The teams alternate between batting and fielding. The batting team's inning ends when its three players are out.

Baseball and Softball are mostly similar except for a few key differences.

Baseball bats are longer, heavier and broader. The balls used in baseballs have a circumference of 9 inches. In softball, the balls are broader with a circumference of 12 inches but softer. In baseball the ball is thrown (pitched) from a distance of 60feet. In softball the distance is reduced to 43feet.

In baseball, the ball is pitched overhand or sidearm but in softball the ball is pitched underarm. A softball field is much smaller than a baseball field.