Tokyo 2020 Faces Tough Decisions on New Sports

(ATR) After presentations by eight sports Friday, Tokyo 2020 faces a difficult task to determine which new events to add to the Olympic program.

The eight sports vying for inclusion in the Games sought to persuade organizers Friday that they are a good fit for the Olympics, with proposals aimed at engaging the Japanese population and new audiences globally.

Leaders from baseball-softball, the favorite to join the Olympics, began the long day of 45-minute presentations to the Tokyo 2020 Additional Event Program Panel.Officials from the international federations of bowling, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, surfing and wushu followed with their pitches.

Key themes throughout the IFs' detailed presentations were promises to provide innovative and flexible event options that will appeal to the younger generation and leave a strong Olympic legacy. They were each followed by a question and answer session.

Fujio Mitarai, chair of the Tokyo 2020 Additional Event Program Panel, told reporters at a press conference Friday that the federations' enthusiasm to join the Olympics had been clearly conveyed to the organizing committee.

"Each of the international federations gave compelling presentations detailing why they should be selected as an additional event on the 2020 Olympic program, and all the presentations were highly commendable," he said.

Mitarai said factors which will determine additional events for Tokyo 2020 include the sport's popularity, number of athletes, venue plans and building costs and ticket sales forecasts.

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said Games organizers were guided by the IOC's wish not to have any more than 500 athletes participating in additional events.

"It is not possible to publish the number of additional events to be picked up and the number of people to be included at this moment," he told the press briefing. "Since the committee to determine the additional events is the first time in the Olympics, we do not have a clear outlook for this procedure. We do not know how the IOC handle our suggestion of additional events,"

"We have to recognize that transparency is important," he added, acknowledging the sports' Olympic ambitions.

"We want to avoid a variety of expectations and speculation about the events to be added. As a fair procedure, we want to publish the details after the results of the additional events come out."

Tokyo 2020 will examine the sports' applications in the coming weeks before drafting a proposal for one or more new events to join the roster of 28 Olympic sports. The IOC's list of 35 evaluation criteria for adding events to the Tokyo Olympic program will also serve as a guiding factor in the final selection.

The final proposal will be submitted to the IOC by Sept. 30. The IOC Executive Board may discuss the matter at its December meeting. Discussion and finalapproval will come at the IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro next August.

Reported by Hironori Hashimoto in Tokyo andMark Bisson

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