Tokyo (AFP)
The Olympic Games will be dusted off this summer in Tokyo with the introduction of surfing, skateboarding and climbing, while karate will make a perhaps unique appearance and baseball will come back twelve years later his last Olympic Games.
Here is an overview of these five sports as well as some of their respective favorites:
Surf without giant waves
It is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated new sports in Tokyo, even if the waves off the beach of Tsurigasaki, in the south-east of the Japanese megalopolis, are likely to disappoint those who hoped to see rollers comparable to those from Hawaii, or from Tahiti where the Paris 2024 surf events will take place.
The battle for gold promises to be exciting despite the absence of the aging icon Kelly Slater who failed to qualify. Brazilians Italo Ferreira and Gabriel Medina and American John John Florence are among the favorites among men, while an American-Australian duel is looming among women, with Americans Carissa Moore and Caroline Marks and Australians Stephanie Gilmore and Sally Fitzgibbons.
Skateboarding: back to college
Another trendy sliding sport, skateboarding will be divided into two competitions: the ramp, that is to say a course combining a dome and a variety of complex curves, and "street", resembling a street with stairs, curbs and slopes.
In women, gold could go to a schoolgirl: the reigning world champion, the Japanese Misugu Okamoto, is only 13 years old, while her big rival Sky Brown, who will represent the United Kingdom, is still younger (11 years old)!
In comparison, the favorite among men, the American Nyjah Huston, almost looks like a veteran at the height of his 25 years and his four world champion titles.
Climbing in combined mode
In the new Olympic discipline of sport climbing, athletes will compete in three different events: difficulty, speed and wall (or block) climbing, and their final ranking will be determined by their combined results in the three disciplines .
In the men's category, the Czech Adam Ondra promises to be the big favorite, although he will have serious competitors like the Canadian Sean McColl, the Austrian Jakob Schubert and the Japanese Tomoa Narasaki.
On the women's side, a duel could oppose the world patron of climbing, the Slovenian Janja Garnbret, 20 years old currently, against the Japanese Akiyo Noguchi (30 years old today) who will aim for an Olympic title in high point to his rich track record.
Karate: first ... and last?
Often in the shadow of judo, karate will also take the Olympic light for the first time in Tokyo, but perhaps also for the last, having been excluded from the Paris 2024 Olympics in favor of breakdance.
A centuries-old martial art originating from the Okinawa archipelago (southwest of Japan) when the region was still an independent kingdom under the name of Ryukyu, karate in the Olympic version will come in two competitions, the "kata" (choreographed moves in the void) and the "kumite" (fight between two opponents, but where the attacks are also ultra-controlled).
Japanese Ryo Kiyuna, from Okinawa, will be one of the favorites of the "kata" competition as a triple world champion.
The return of baseball / softball
Baseball / softball returns to the Olympics this year, for the first time since the Beijing Games in 2008, and the men's tournament promises to be very open.
The Olympic baseball tournament will be contested by six national teams, four of which have already qualified. Japan, automatically selected as the host country, will be able to rely in particular on its superstar Shohei Ohtani and on the fervor of the Japanese public, keen on this sport.
South Korea - the last Olympic winner to date -, Mexico and Israel have also already qualified, while the main candidates to win the last two tickets are the United States, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
As for softball, whose rules are similar to those of baseball but which is played on a smaller field, its Olympic version will be reserved for women's teams. American women are considered the longest-serving favorites.
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