2020 Olympics: 100 Percent More Awesome

The Summer Olympics are about to get significantly cooler.

The International Olympic Committee this week announced it supported adding skateboarding and surfing to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“The change would be the most comprehensive evolution of the Olympic program in modern history,” the IOC said in a news release. “The five sports — karate, skateboarding, sports climbing, surfing and baseball/softball — 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. They include team sports and individual sports; indoor sports and outdoor sports; and ‘urban’ sports with a strong appeal to youth.”

Michael Brooke from Concrete Wave Magazine provided a nice little historical tidbit on the announcement:

Still, the decision isn’t final.

The addition of the sports must be approved at the IOC session in Rio in August. They were proposed by the organizing committee for the Tokyo games as part of an Olympic initiative to give host cities more flexibility to include new sports and events at their games.

Does this mean skateboarding is here to stay as an Olympic sport? No, as the additions are not binding for future games.