Olympics: Baseball-softball among 8 on shortlist of added events for 2020
The seven others chosen by a seven-member panel with three observers -- including Olympic gold medalists Naoko Takahashi and Koji Murofushi -- were bowling, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, surfing and wushu. The federations of the eight sports have until July 22 to reply in writing to a questionnaire from the panel, which will then hold a hearing on Aug. 7-8. The final list -- no number has been set -- will be submitted to the International Olympic Committee by Sept. 30. The IOC will make a decision on which events will be added to the 28 core sports at its Session in August ahead of next summer's Rio de Janeiro Olympics. "This is a great day for our sport," Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, said in a statement. "Today baseball and softball -- and the millions of athletes and fans who call it their sport -- reached first base." Said Kazuya Kasahara, head of the Japan Squash Association, "We're very relieved. If we get into the Olympics, we think there's potential for the popularity to go through the roof." Fujio Mitarai, honorary chairman of Keidanren who chaired the panel, said the 26 applications were considered in line with 35 criteria listed by the IOC as well as the organizing committee's three principles -- youth appeal, the potential to spike public interest and transparency. The list of 26 was a colorful one, featuring applications from the likes of American football, tug of war and even bridge and chess. Tokyo 2020 CEO and the panel's vice chair Toshiro Muto declined to go into details over Monday's selection, saying, "We cannot speak about why certain federations made the cut and others didn't." Mitarai, however, did say two factors weighed heavily on the minds of the panelists in reaching a consensus, leading to the selection of events such as surfing and roller sports, which will include skateboarding. "The most important points were, does the sport have the support of the younger generation and how big is the population of the sport worldwide," Mitarai said. Muto said that at the hearing in August, the federations will be asked to offer details on the venue, scheduling and which disciplines of the sport will be included in the Olympic program. "With snowboarding a success at the Winter Olympics, there's a demand for a fashionable sport in the summer that can relate to youngsters," said Atsushi Sakai, president of the Nippon Surfing Association. "We have an edge over the other sports in terms of cost since about the only thing we need to build are the temporary stands." Source: Kyodo
