Surfing and climbing are among a narrowed list of five sports for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games in聽Tokyo, according to a from the games鈥櫬爋rganizing committee. They join baseball/softball, karate, and skateboarding聽for a combined five sports聽that include a total of聽18 events.
鈥淓ach of the eight shortlisted international federations amply demonstrated their potential to add to the value of the games,鈥澛燜ujio Mitarai, chairman of the Tokyo 2020 Additional Event Program Panel, said in the release. 鈥淲e firmly believe that by connecting with youth, bringing to life Olympic Agenda 2020聽and the Tokyo 2020 vision, our proposal constitutes the best possible package that will add the most value to the games.鈥澛
A聽combination of bouldering, lead, and speed climbing聽would make up the climbing events聽for men and women. Surfing would also be divided by gender. Both sports would cap the field at 20 men and 20 women.听
鈥淭okyo 2020鈥檚 announcement today is an extraordinary moment for our sport and for the global surfing community,鈥 International Surfing Association president .听
鈥淥f course, there is still a long way to go, and all of us at the [International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC)] are deeply committed to meeting the challenges ahead,鈥 said Marco Scolaris, president of聽the IFSC, .
Japan鈥檚 event proposal will not be finalized until August 2016, after being voted on by the International Olympic Committee at the 129th IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.