Tokyo Olympics set to feature five new sports in bid to attract youth
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 01/06/16 7:44pm
Skateboarding and surfing are two of the five sports which could be added to the Olympics for the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
Karate, sport climbing and baseball/softball are the other three sports proposed by the International Olympic Committee's executive board.
A statement from the IOC read: "If approved at the 129th IOC session in Rio de Janeiro in August, the change would be the most comprehensive evolution of the Olympic programme in modern history."
The sports, the statement added, "offer a key focus on youth, which is at the heart of the Games vision for Tokyo 2020. They represent a combination of well-established and emerging sports with significant popularity in Japan and beyond".
Future Games would not necessarily have to include the same five sports, which have been selected by the host city.
The statement said the sports and athlete quotas for the five sports - a total of 18 events and 474 athletes for Tokyo - are an addition and "will not take places away from athletes in existing Olympic sports".
"Discussions on the event programme in the existing 28 Olympic sports for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 are ongoing, and will be finalised by the IOC Executive Board in mid-2017," the statement added.
