The Coronavirus Olympics And Its 6 New Events

Formerly scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Tokyo Olympics 2020 was postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will not allow international spectators. This is the first time that the Olympic Games have been postponed and rescheduled, rather than cancelled.
With the slogan of the 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay is ‘Hope Lights Our Way’, the official program for the 2020 Summer Olympics as approved by the IOC executive board on 9 June 2017 will feature 339 events in 33 different sports, encompassing a total of 50 disciplines. In Sep. 2015, however, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) received a proposal to add a number of events to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.A year later during the 129th session of the IOC a unanimous decision was reached to include surfing in the events. With four years to spare, the IOC was confident and now, 5 additional sports are expected to be introduced in Tokyo, fifteen new events within existing sports as well as new mixed events in several sports. Here are the new additions
Surfing
Surfing will make its introduction for the first time, which will see surfers at Tsurigasaki Beach on Japan’s Pacific coast. The Brazilian and Australian sides are expected to be amongst the strongest and are set to come under a lot of support in the betting markets. This could help grow the sport further, with lots of new spectators.
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is another new sport that is making its debut at the upcoming Olympic games, which has come under a mixed view from those involved in the sport. Skateboarding will be taking place across two different Olympic disciplines, which will be park and street. It will be interesting to see who the dominant countries are, with the likes of the United states, Brazil, Portugal and the hosts Japan as the favourite’s pre-games.
Sport Climbing
Sport climbing is another new sport that will be taking place in Tokyo and it will see the athletes climbing up a wall dotted with the usual holds of different shapes and sizes. It will be focused on the speed, with the United States and Japan the two countries to watch out for.
Karate
Karate has been one of the most populous martial arts sports/games in history which originated from the Ryukyu Kingdom in Japan. The game was introduced to Nigeria during the inception of the Karate Federation of Nigeria which was in the year 1992. Karate will also now be taking place at the Olympic Games and it is another sport that has been much awaited. The competition will be taking place in Nippon Budokan, who also amazingly held the first World championships for the sport back in 1970. The key favourites are expected to come from Spain, Turkey, Japan and China.
Baseball and Softball
These are not new sports to the Olympic Games, as they had previously taken place. However, they will be reintroduced for the first time since back in 2008, so have been included in this list. Each sport will also not be contested by a large number of sides and the hosts will likely head into the competitions as the favourites. Baseball is the national sport for Japan, and they will be expected to take a lot of beating. They are also ranked as the number one nation in the world for Softball, so again will go in as the likely favourites. Other sides set to battle it out will be the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy and Mexico.The Tokyo Olympics are now just over two months away and calls to ditch the Games in the face of the pandemic are getting louder by the day. So why isn’t Japan talking about cancelling the Games? The answer as it turns out, is not that simple. The situation is not looking great in Japan as a Coronavirus state of emergency has been extended in the capital Tokyo and three other major prefectures as cases continue to rise. Yet there’s been no word about cancelling the Games.
Read also: North Korea Announces It Won’t Participate In Tokyo Olympics
Both health experts and public opinion being stacked against them, current polls in Japan show nearly 70% of the population do not want the Olympics to go ahead, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) remains steadfast that the spectacle will take place. Japan has long insisted there was no question the Olympics, which should have taken place last summer, would be held and will be safe. Fingers are crossed!Photos Credit: Getty