(ATR) Baseball5 and wushu will join the program for the 2022 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal.
The IOC Executive Board okayed the addition of the new events when it met in Lausanne Jan. 8.
The World Baseball Softball Confederation is pursuing the development of baseball5 as a sport with great potential in Africa.
"Our newest discipline has seen tremendous growth in recent years. Its accessibility has increased our ability to grow our sport globally and bring the skills and the values of baseball-softball to young people in under-served communities," says WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari in a statement following the EB meeting.
Wushu was included in the so-called Sports Lab group of sports held on the sidelines of the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games. Sport climbing and skateboarding were among that group in Nanjing and will make Olympic Games debuts in Tokyo.
Karate, which debuted at the Buenos Aires YOG in 2018 and is on the program for Tokyo 2020, will be one of the sports in Dakar.
Other newly approved sports for Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 will be medal events in Dakar, including breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing.
The EB meeting also set the dates for Dakar from Oct. 22 to Nov. 9, the latest dates ever in the four editionsof the YOG. According to the IOC the dates were selected to take advantage of dry weather conditions and the school calendar in Senegal.
Kirsty Coventry, chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for Dakar says the decisions made today by the EB are essential details.
"With the dates and the sports program confirmed, teams and athletes now have crucial information to refine their planning and aspire to take part in a historical event," she’s quoted in an IOC news release.
The EB also heard reports from Paris 2024 and the 2020 Winter YOG in Lausanne which opens Jan. 9.
The IOC EB will meet Thursday morning with the IOC Athletes Commission. IOC President Thomas Bach and Athletes Commission vice chair Danka Bartekova will hold a press conference that follows.
Friday morning the IOC will hold its 135th Session, a single day meeting. Ratifying PyeongChang as the host of the 2024 Winter YOG is the big item on the agenda.
Reported by Ed Hula.
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