Lausanne (AFP)
The full program of sports and disciplines for the Paris-2024 Olympic Games will be validated next December despite the postponement of one year of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in which certain additional sports such as surfing or skateboarding must be tested, announced Wednesday the IOC.
"We have maintained the deadline of December 2020 (...) even if new sports cannot currently be tested on the Olympic stage, because we need to give certainty to the athletes concerned, to their National Olympic Committees (NOCs) , international federations as well as the organizing committee, "explained the president of the body, Thomas Bach, after a meeting of the executive committee by videoconference.
In addition to the sports usually present at the Summer Olympics, the organizing committee of the Paris-2024 Games wanted to add four additional sports to its program: breakdance, climbing, skateboarding and surfing. The formal addition of these four sports "will also be approved at the December meeting," added the IOC.
Climbing, karate (absent in Paris), skateboarding and surfing are also on the program for the Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed to the summer of 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The IOC will also rule in December on requests from certain federations to add new events, such as parkour in gymnastics or sea rowing.
In a press release, the organizing committee for the Paris-2024 Olympic Games "welcomes" the IOC's decision "despite the postponement of the Tokyo Games to the summer of 2021".
The athletes, federations and various NOCs "will therefore have nearly four years to prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as best as possible. This decision will also allow Paris-2024 to adapt operationally, well in advance of the Games, its concept sites / sports based on a validated program ", adds the press release.
Mr. Bach also recalled that the addition of new sports or new events must be done in compliance with the quota of 10,500 athletes and "only if (the events) can be organized on existing sites".
The members of the Executive Board also recalled "the paramount importance of reducing the cost and the complexity of the organization of the Olympic Games, in particular with regard to the requirements relating to the venues", according to the IOC press release.
© 2020 AFP