Feds Optimistic After Tokyo 2020 Presentations

(ATR) The eight short-listed federations gave presentations to Tokyo 2020 on Friday to be included in the Olympic sports program.

Baseball-softball, bowling, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, surfing and wushu eachdescribed why they should be added to the program with a question and answer segment following the presentation.

World Bowling President Kevin Dornberger spoke with Around the Rings on Friday following the fed’s first day of meetings with Tokyo 2020.

"I think there’s a few [sports] that are not really popular in Japan and you just get the flavor, from talking to people and being around here for a couple days, that if a sport comes in here and doesn’t really offer any meaningful medal opportunities for Japan, then I think it’s going to have a tough row."

"I think we have a great opportunity in Japan in particular since there are so many bowlers here; a lot of competitive bowlers here. I know our sport’s popular in Japan; we’ve got that going for us. The Japanese people understand the sport, so maybe that’s a benefit to us. I hope it is," Dornberger tells ATR.

"The strong rumors are that baseball/softball is certainly one of the strongest sports from the Japanese perspective. It’s really become almost their national pastime as it was ours at one point in time back in the U.S," he says.

World Baseball Softball Confederation president Riccardo Fraccari tells ATR he hopes their presentation knocked it out of the park.

"Given our sport's position in Japan and worldwide, we are hoping to show that adding baseball/softball would be a 'home run' for Tokyo 2020 and align with IOC Agenda 2020 -- reinforcing a commitment to youth, gender equality and a sustainable business model -- maximizing the value-add without adding any associated construction costs," he says.

Surfing federation president Fernando Aguerre tells ATR they will lean on their strong youth appeal and social media involvement to make it onto the program.

"We are very much what Tokyo needs and what the Olympic movement needs. We are young, we are all about the new demographics [the IOC] wants to reach. It’s about social media and youth engagement – that’s surfing," Aguerre tells ATR.

Aguerre tells ATR nearly 40 percent of surfing athletes are between the ages of 12 and 24, with a large percentage of surfers under the age of 12. He says the sport also has a strong presence in Japanese culture.

"Japan has a very organized national federation that has been around for 50 years. There are around two million surfers in Japan and 2,800 retail surfing stores in Japan with $755 million worth of revenue each year," he says.

On the social media front, Aguerre gave the example of the top surfer Gabriel Medina who has 3.1 million followers on Instagram, compared to top tennis star Serena Williams who has 1.6 million. He says this drives home the point of the strong presence the sport has on social media. He says their stars are just as popular as stars in other sports.

During the surfing presentation, the federation showed a video with the World Surf League chief executive officer Paul Speaker who ensured the panel the top professional athletes will attend the Tokyo 2020 Games, something that has been an issue for sports like baseball and hockey in the past.

President of the World Squash Federation N. Ramachandran was optimistic following the presentation.

"We were delighted to have a further opportunity to show the exciting journey of change and innovation that squash has been on. Also to explain how we would be a low-cost addition with small athlete numbers," he tells reporters.

"We have further scrutiny at a Q&A tomorrow, then can only hope we receive a nomination from the Tokyo Organizing Committee to the IOC. It will be a hard wait, but if Squash achieves the dream for our athletes it will be well worth it."

The roller sports federation is aiming to build upon the success they had at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games in 2014 and have a five year plan in place to further improve their sport.

"We presented a complete project that in 5 years will lead Roller Sports to be an even more important sport in Japan and we are sure we can create a consistent legacy both before and after the Games," president Aracu said.

The World Karate Federation was the last federation to present on Friday. Following the presentation, WKF gave a live demonstration to showcase the excitement and energy the sport could bring to the Games.

The sport climbing and wushu federations have not responded to requests for comment from ATR.

Tokyo 2020 will submit their final selection to the IOC in September.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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