# IOC Announces 5 New Sports for Tokyo Olympics **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 3, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683 "2016-08-03T20:29:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/1 "2016-08-03T20:29:03Z")
[Story here.](http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/03/ioc-approves-five-sports-baseball-softball-surfing-karate-sportsclimbing/88034494/) Baseball and softball are fine. Surfing is OK I guess. But Rock climbing? ROCK CLIMBING?? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/2 "2016-08-03T20:49:32Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > But Rock climbing? ROCK CLIMBING?? Sure, [Rock Climbing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSD8uPn7-IA) And some difficulty climbing - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSjjpL1gI1Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSjjpL1gI1Y) ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/3 "2016-08-03T21:00:04Z")
Whatever Telemark, that was so obviously a camera trick :). ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/4 "2016-08-04T14:44:05Z")
Rock Climbing feels more like a sport than surfing to me. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/5 "2016-08-04T15:19:41Z")
Is rock climbing just a race? Or is it judged somehow? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/6 "2016-08-04T15:36:02Z")
These are all activities, not sports. Besides, the X games is a thing and has been for years. Isnā€™t that the Olympics of the eXtreme sports? Why double-dip? ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/7 "2016-08-04T17:48:27Z")
These additions, along with golf, seem really pointless to me. They tried baseball and softball before and cut them. Golf has already shown a lot of the big names donā€™t want to go. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/8 "2016-08-04T18:34:44Z")
Keep in mind that these sports will only be in the Olympics in 2020; they are not permanently being added. > [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > These are all activities, not sports. > > Besides, the X games is a thing and has been for years. Isnā€™t that the Olympics of the eXtreme sports? Why double-dip? It didnā€™t hurt either the Olympics or the X-Games any when snowboarding and BMX biking became Olympic events. In fact, at first, a number of top snowboarders said they would not attend the Olympics because the snowboarding events were being run by the organization that handles skiing, but in the end, pretty much all of the top athletes showed up, mainly because nobody really cares whoā€™s running the event when thereā€™s a gold medal involved. > [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > These additions, along with golf, seem really pointless to me. They tried baseball and softball before and cut them. Golf has already shown a lot of the big names donā€™t want to go. Baseball and softball were dropped mainly because the host countries complained that they couldnā€™t do anything with the stadiums afterwards. Tokyo will not have this problem. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/9 "2016-08-04T19:01:41Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > These are all activities, not sports. Baseball isnā€™t a sport? I can see why baseball would be a rather popular addition in Japan, and really, if youā€™re going to have an international multi-sport super-event, baseball really should be in it. Interestingly enough, NPB (the Japanese majors) have made noises about holding up their season - which is shorter than the Major League season anyway and has a bit more room for maneuver - to allow its player to play in the Olympics. Were this to happen, but MLB did NOT hold up its season, Japan would be conferred a preposterously huge advantage; all its best players, with just a few exceptions, would be available, but every other major baseball-playing nationā€™s best players would all be tied up in the Major Leagues. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2016, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/10 "2016-08-04T20:25:27Z")
Rockclimbing is a great addition, IMO. Not only does it require amazing strength and skill, but itā€™s interesting to watch even if you donā€™t personally know anything about the sport. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/11 "2016-08-05T00:12:45Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > These additions, along with golf, seem really pointless to me. They tried baseball and softball before and cut them. Golf has already shown a lot of the big names donā€™t want to go. I believe baseball and softball were cut since so few countries were putting out quality teams. Who has quality baseball teams? USA, Canada, Japan, Cuba, Taiwan, S. Korea. Australia won a silver, but I think that was a freak thing more than anything else. Canada never medaled, so Iā€™m not sure they even had a great team. Americaā€™s gold in 2000 was one of the best Olympic moments, though. Shame so few people were paying attention with it in Australia that year. It was an amazing win. Tommy Lasorda called it the high point of his career, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/12 "2016-08-05T01:51:36Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Who has quality baseball teams? USA, Canada, Japan, Cuba, Taiwan, S. Korea. Australia won a silver, but I think that was a freak thing more than anything else. > > Canada never medaled, so Iā€™m not sure they even had a great team. > > Americaā€™s gold in 2000 was one of the best Olympic moments, though. Shame so few people were paying attention with it in Australia that year. It was an amazing win. Tommy Lasorda called it the high point of his career, I think. Several other Latin American countries (Venezuela, the DR, etc.) can easily compete with those, if they have their best players. Maybe the Dutch, too. They are unlikely to have many of those players in 2020, if they are on MLB active rosters. Organizational players assigned to lower levels could participate, and as you saw, that can yield some fine, fun teams. > [@RickJay](#): > > Interestingly enough, NPB (the Japanese majors) have made noises about holding up their season - which is shorter than the Major League season anyway and has a bit more room for maneuver - to allow its player to play in the Olympics. Were this to happen, but MLB did NOT hold up its season, Japan would be conferred a preposterously huge advantage; all its best players, with just a few exceptions, would be available, but every other major baseball-playing nationā€™s best players would all be tied up in the Major Leagues. The KBO and the CPBL will also suspend their seasons around the Olympics. Japan would still be the team to beat, but they wonā€™t roll over everybody. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/13 "2016-08-05T04:31:48Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I believe baseball and softball were cut since so few countries were putting out quality teams. Who has quality baseball teams? USA, Canada, Japan, Cuba, Taiwan, S. Korea. Australia won a silver, but I think that was a freak thing more than anything else. > > Canada never medaled, so Iā€™m not sure they even had a great tesm. The Dominican Republic and Venezuela are also medal contenders. Canada certainly could win a medal, itā€™d be an upset but not an outrageous one. I think Puerto Rico fields a team apart from the USA. I count eight teams that could win gold; USA, Japan, PR, DR, Canada, Venezuela, Cuba, and arguably South Korea. Australia, Taiwan, Mexico and Netherlands are long shots but would not be embarrassed. But that is quite a deep field by Olympic standards; in most team sports there are really not a great many countries that are genuine threats for gold. Baseball is quite reasonable in competitive balance. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/14 "2016-08-05T04:46:28Z")
Thereā€™s been discussion about including ballroom dancing, and pole dancing too, as Olympic events. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/15 "2016-08-05T09:00:02Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Thereā€™s been discussion about including ballroom dancing, and pole dancing too, as Olympic events. > > :eek: Give them objective judging criteria, and why not? Rhythmic gymnastics and skating are pretty beloved, so thereā€™s probably an audience for it. As for the five new ones, Iā€™ll list them since OP forgot. [ul] [li]Baseball and softball[/li][li]karate[/li][li]skateboarding[/li][li]sport climbing [/li][li]surfing[/li][/ul] Sound good to me. I might pick up a few that Iā€™d actually watch, since skateboarding and surfing would probably have creativity in them. I tend to watch judged sports, like gymnastics. Iā€™d probably also watch Karate just to see a more structured fighting game. Sport climbing gets the Ninja Warrior in me going. Probably wonā€™t look at Baseball/softball, since you can watch them any time. For me, the Olympics are about sports you donā€™t tend to see. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/16 "2016-08-05T09:58:22Z")
The Olympic motto is ā€˜Citius - Altius - Fortiusā€™ (ā€˜Faster - Higher - Strongerā€™.) So for me, rock climbing qualifies, because you have an identical course and the fastest climber wins the gold medal. However diving, synchronised swimming and gymnastics are all judged on artistic merit (i.e. subjectively), which means they are not part of the motto and are subject to bias. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/17 "2016-08-05T10:46:01Z")
Yeah, Iā€™ve never been a fan of judged competitive events, since it makes corruption almost inevitable. Figure skating, say, can be fun to watch, but that doesnā€™t make it a competition. Climbing, though, sure, why not? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/18 "2016-08-05T12:03:20Z")
If I was in charge Iā€™d remove any round-robin type of team sports, and anything that requires judges. Both of those are too arbitrary and ambiguous to prove who is ā€œbestā€. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/19 "2016-08-05T13:05:13Z")
Didnā€™t mean to lump base and softball in the ā€œthey arenā€™t sportsā€ like the rest of them, that was just me being lazy. I donā€™t think the Olympics need to add any more sports in general. They have plenty. At this rate theyā€™re going to include flag football, quidditch, video games and interpretive danceā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683/20 "2016-08-05T13:14:15Z")
> [@glee](#): > > The Olympic motto is ā€˜Citius - Altius - Fortiusā€™ (ā€˜Faster - Higher - Strongerā€™.) > > So for me, rock climbing qualifies, because you have an identical course and the fastest climber wins the gold medal. In fact, climbing pretty directly combines all three aspirations. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ioc-announces-5-new-sports-for-tokyo-olympics/761683.md?page=2)