Baseball and softball are set put in joint bid while climbing, karate, roller sports, squash, wakeboard and wushu are also hoping for inclusion.

The IOC is set to attend a major championships for each of the seven sports before the end of the year to compile a report on the merits of the sport and its bid.

The IOC will then make a final decision on which sport, if any, to include at its Session in Buenos Aires in September next year.

Softball has already faced an evaluation after the IOC visited the 2012 Softball Women's World Championships (pictured top) in Whitehorse, Canada, which took place from July 13 to 22 and saw Japan claim a 2-1 victory over the United States in the final.

The evaluation came before softball and baseball officially announced that they were discussing putting forward a joint bid for the 2020 Olympics, although International Softball Federation still has to officially ratify the decision at a Special Congress.

Baseball will face its IOC evaluation at the continental qualifying tournament for the 2013 World Baseball Classic in Regensburg, Germany, which takes place from September 20-24.

Roller sports will come under the spotlight next at the 2012 World Speed Skating Championships in Ascoli Piceno, Italy on September 7-15, while climbing will be evaluated at the XII IFSC World Championships in Paris, France on September 12-16.

Wushu will also be visited in September at the Fifth World Junior Wushu Championships in Macau, China on September 17-25.


Meanwhile, wakeboard will be evaluated at the Cable Wakeboard World Championships (pictured above) in Manila, Philippines, from November 8 to 11 and squash will be visited at the Hong Kong Squash Open in Hong Kong, China from November 21 to December 2.

The only sport that is yet to have a confirmed IOC inspection event is karate but it is likely that the IOC will select the World Senior Championships in Paris on November 21-25 as the event is the sport's showpiece competition.

Only a maximum of 28 sports are allowed at the Olympic Games and this will be reached at Rio 2016 with the inclusion of golf and rugby sevens.

However, it is highly likely that at least one of the seven sports will be included in the 2020 Olympic sports programme with the IOC set to remove at least one discipline currently on the sports programme.

Before London 2012, modern pentathlon and taekwondo were thought to be the sports facing the biggest risk of being axed from the Olympic programme.

But taekwondo, in particular, enjoyed an excellent Games which enhanced its reputation. 

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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