Surfing, skateboarding to be considered by Olympic Committee

Surfing, skateboarding, sports climbing and karate are on the list put forward for consideration by the International Olympic Committee next August. Photo / Andrew Warner.

The call to increase the Olympic appeal among the world's youth has reached the ears of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games organisers.

They have recommended adding five sports with a total of 18 events on the programme for the Games in five years' time.

While baseball and softball was expected to be among it's picks, given the popularity in Japan, surfing, skateboarding, sports climbing and karate are also on the list put forward for consideration by the International Olympic Committee next August.

The three sports on the list of eight in the frame to miss out were bowling, squash and another martial art, wushu.

Host cities are allowed to propose additional sports to the established programme of 28 sports.

There's no guarantee all will make it past the IOC check.

"It was quite a difficult task," Toshiyuki Akiyama, a member of the Tokyo panel who came up with the additional sports, said.

"Baseball, softball and karate were proposed and supported by the Tokyo metropolitan assembly. As for skateboarding, sports climbing, surfing, the key word is youth."

The proposed events would add 474 athletes to the games, a total that fits within the cap of 500 additional athletes set by the IOC.

The Tokyo committee would cut baseball from eight teams to six, and limited sports like surfing to two events, short board for men and women.

"We know younger people tend to stay indoors nowadays, and we believe we included events that will drive people outside," said Tomiaki Fukuda, the president of the Japan Wrestling Federation. "It will create a new image for the Olympic Games."

A total of 26 sports had originally applied for consideration. Eight made the shortlist last June.

Baseball and softball have been out of the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games, and their proposed inclusion as a joint bid had been considered a virtual certainty because of the high popularity of those sports in Japan.

There are still no assurances that American major league players would be involved.

"We're in discussions and we have a great relationship with MLB," World Baseball Softball Confederation president Riccardo Fraccari said. "We have plenty of time to discuss before 2020."

Karate would have eight men's and women's kumite and kata events and a total of 80 athletes; skateboarding proposes two street and two park events for 80 athletes; sports climbing has two events in bouldering, lead and speed combined for 40 athletes; and surfing would have two short board events for 40 competitors.

International Surfing Association president Fernando Aguerre called the announcement "an extraordinary moment for our sport."

"Surfing embodies a cool, playful lifestyle that would add a completely new element to the programme," he said.

Squash was left bitterly disappointed after the latest in a series of Olympic rejections over the last 12 years.

The IOC have not said how many of the five would be accepted into the Tokyo programme, although karate might have the hardest job getting in, considering judo and taekwondo are already on the Games programme.