Every Olympics has a unique slate of sports where medals are given. Changes are made as different sports become more or less popular around the world (I guess Modern Pentathlon is thriving somewhere…). And in recent years, there has also been a much needed equalization of events for women to match the number available for men.
I think the brand new sports for the Tokyo Olympics are an X-TREME attempt to get younger and hip fans. And the 2 returning sports as the complete opposite. Below you will find some tidbits of info about the new sports, my takes accompanied by a classic 90s-ish movie gif & a personal excitement level.
SKATEBOARDING
Tony Hawk approves, he’s not competing but he is bringing the hype and did some tricks in the skatepark with the competitors. They will be doing ollies and flipkicks in Street and Park events and be given scores based on difficulty and execution. The Street course has more stairs and railings like a city park and the Park course is more like a funky empty pool. I get they are trying to get a younger audience but I’m just not sure this is going to achieve those goals like the Winter Games has been able to do. It does validate a sport that has a history of being seen as a menace to railings everywhere so I’m fine with it joining but just not sure this is the future of the summer games.
Royer’s Excitement for Skateboarding: 6/10
Karate
I honestly don’t know why this wasn’t a sport until now when Taekwondo and Judo seem to be going strong. Karate originated on islands that eventually became part of Japan so it is very fitting they debut at the Tokyo Games. They have a traditional 1:1 match format but then also a demonstration of skills versus a virtual opponent….kind of like the training they do in Hunger Games perhaps? I have no clue, we can find out together.
Royer’s Excitement for Karate: 6/10
Surfing
Disclosure: I just finished a memoir about a surfer so I’m possible biased at the moment but I’m pretty jazzed for this. And yes, I know everything I wrote about skateboarding could be said about surfing, and more considering they are relying on the ocean to behave. They better hope the heart of the Tafiti isn’t missing making the ocean extra sassy.
Royer’s Excitement for Surfing: 7/10
Sport Climbing
Another Disclosure: I just went rock climbing for the first time ever (thanks Jesse) so I’m jazzed for this as well. But have you watched this yet? The speed climbing event is WILD, it’s like Spiderman in real life. And there is some DRAMA with the format. In most competitions climbers compete separately in Speed, Bouldering and Lead because they are very different events requiring different skills. But for the Olympics they have to do all 3 and overall results decide a single gold, silver and bronze medal. It will be interesting to see what happens with this competition, how the sport climbing community responds and if they make it back to another Olympics based on what happens here.
Royer’s Excitement for Sport Climbing: 8/10
Softball/Baseball
This is actually a return to the games for Softball and Baseball. Their entry and exit and re-entry is a fascinating slice of Olympic history. For softball, America was one of the primary reasons it got into the Olympics in 1996….and then the primary reason it took a quick exit after 2008. We were too good and created a competitive imbalance that was bad for the Olympics. Baseball is challenged by timing, it’s in the middle of the MLB season, so the IOC has cited the lack of the best players as a reason to remove it along with softball. This is a big moment for softball as one of the only opportunities to get true global coverage and attention. My mom also loves softball so I’m hoping for a competitive and exciting tournament to give it a chance of staying in the games in the future.
Royer’s Excitement for Softball/Baseball: 9/10
In Conclusion
It’s a very interesting slate of new sports for the Olympics that I think matches the spirit and culture of Japan. Is this the start of the X-Games-ification of the Summer Olympics? Is this going to inspire me to take up skateboarding? Will Cobra Kai get 12 more seasons because of the Olympics? Only time will tell.
Royer's Olympic Blog 