Are you excited for the Olympics to finally happen? This July 23 to August 8, the creme de la creme of sports around the world will fly to compete in Tokyo in their respective sports. While you may be tuning in to your favorite events, such as basketball, swimming or even track and field, did you know that there are new sports making their Olympic debut this time around?
Yes, according to the Washington Post, four sports, namely skateboarding, karate, surfing and sport climbing are making their first Olympic appearance in Tokyo. New disciplines of other sports such as men’s and women’s three-on-three basketball and BMX freestyle will be added as well. How exciting, right?
The Philippines even has a representative in one of these sports. Margielyn Didal, the skater who shot to fame after winning Gold in the 2018 Asian Games, is representing the country in Tokyo. The 21-year old Cebu native cemented her slot via world rankings. She is set to compete in the meet’s women street event, which is scheduled on July 25 to 26.
The inclusion of these four sports in the upcoming Olympics were announced in 2016. Baseball and softball are also making their return in this year’s Olympics. Upon their approval, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said in a statement: “We want to take sport to the youth. With the many options that young people have, we cannot expect any more that they will come automatically to us. We have to go to them.”
Considering how popular these four new sports are amongst the youth, their inclusion will surely boost their popularity. Who knows? If Didal bags a medal in the Olympics, she might even elevate skateboarding in the country to great heights? We’ll have to wait and find out what happens.
