Whatever the future holds for the YOG format, they have often provided a glimpse of the future shape of the OIympics themselves, and that has been the case from the inaugural Singapore 2010 Games.

Planning for Dakar 2022 is still in the very early stages but they too will surely provide a showcase for would-be Olympic events.

Five new sports have been added to the official Olympic programme for Tokyo 2020. These include karate, a YOG sport in Buenos Aires. It has been trying to join the Olympic party for the best part of a decade but it was not until the IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 that it had its place confirmed for 2020.

"It is perfect, Tokyo is our home, our house," said Davide Benetello, who as chairman of his sport's Athletes' Commission led the way for Olympic recognition.

"It is a place where you can feel the spirit of martial arts. It has not been easy with other martial arts such as judo and taekwondo already on the Games programme."

The admission of karate was helped by the adoption of IOC President Thomas Bach's big initiative, Agenda 2020.

Recommendation 10 included a clause which allowed Organising Committees to "make a proposal for one or more additional events on the Olympic programme". 

In some ways it is a return to when host cities staged "demonstration" or "exhibition" events. The crucial difference is that for all sports in Tokyo, a genuine Olympic gold is at stake.

Sport climbing was seen for the first time in an Olympic competition in Buenos Aires and will also make its full debut in Tokyo. It certainly honours one part of the Olympic motto, "Citius, Altius, Fortius", to the letter as the athletes strove to climb ever higher...

Although the IOC will always refute the suggestion, the success of the X-Games has had an effect on the way they present the Olympics.

The introduction of basketball's 3x3 format at the Nanjing 2014 YOG, complete with a thumping soundtrack, seemed a direct attempt to appeal to the elusive concept of "youth culture". It proved such a hit that the sport will feature in Tokyo. Organisers say it ''reflects a desire to include more youthful and urban sports". 

How long before roller skating is also admitted? Sport on roller skates has been knocking at the Olympic door for almost a century. In 1930, when the IOC met in Berlin, a bid for inclusion from roller sports was rejected along with a number of other sports which later became part of the full Olympic programme.

It was accepted when the World Games were first staged at Santa Clara in 1981 but has never forgotten its Olympic ambitions.

It finally took its place on an Olympic stage in Buenos Aires. It was included, according to the IOC, because it "fits with local youth appeal and culture".

Competition combined racing over 500, 1,000m and 5,000 metres at an open air track on the Buenos Aires waterfront. 

Gabriela Rueda and Jhonny Angulo both won gold for their native Colombia, where the sport is followed with a passion. That in itself was a plus. The IOC like to see a wide medal spread and not just the ''usual suspects''.

Of the new sports at Buenos Aires 2018, futsal might also lay claim to a place in future. Although the women's 11-a-side attracts the top players to the Olympic football tournament, the men's event has an age restriction. It cannot be said that it is contested by all the best players.

Mixed team events both in terms of gender and nation have proved very popular with the Youth Olympic participants in sports such as triathlon, modern pentathlon, badminton and archery. There will be mixed relays in swimming and athletics at Tokyo 2020, but whereas nationalities have been mixed at the YOGs, participants at the Olympics in such events are required to be from the same National Olympic Committee. 

There is surely scope to mix up the nations and there is a precedent. It happened at the first two Olympics of the Modern era in tennis, where there is a long tradition of international pairings, particularly in mixed doubles.  

This would strengthen the idea that competitions are supposed to be between individuals rather than nations and such events might go some way to reducing the obsession with the so-called medal table. Clause 57 of the current Olympic Charter still insists that the IOC "shall not draw up any global ranking per country''.

There has not been a cross-country running event on the Olympic athletics programme since the days of the legendary Paavo Nurmi and company in 1924.

There is a strong lobby for a return of this event in athletics circles and its reintroduction in Buenos Aires was a clear attempt to demonstrate the link between cross-country and success on the track. Unfortunately, the decision to combine rankings in track events and a mass-start race made it less clean cut than it should have been. 

Dance sports have been arguing their case for years and the worldwide popularity of television variations of Dancing with the Stars can hardly have harmed their case. Believe it or not, morris dancing was suggested for the 1948 Games in London. The idea was not accepted by Lord Burghley and his Organising Committee.

Now the dancers have their own global governing body, the World Dancesport Federation (WDSF). This was actually founded as long ago as 1957 and received Olympic recognition at the 1997 IOC Session in Lausanne. Coincidentally this was at the same time as rugby and surfing, two sports which will be seen in Tokyo.

"Breaking" must have a great chance of full inclusion although when it was announced that it would be included at Buenos Aires 2018, an outraged hip-hop dancer fired off an angry petition to the IOC, calling the WDSF jurisdiction into question and denouncing the decision as ''immoral , illogical and insulting".

As it turned out, breaking proved to be one of the success stories in Buenos Aires. ''Ram'' of Japan was the star performer with gold in both the B-girls and mixed team event alongside the enigmatically named B4 from Vietnam. ''Bumblebee'' of Russia won the B-boys, although Olympic record keepers might want a little more detail than these one word pseudonyms.

If not for Paris 2024, then it is surely a shoo-in for Los Angeles as 2028 is the spiritual home of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

If that seems far-fetched it shouldn't be, for the entire Olympic programme comes under the microscope at regular intervals.

Back in 2013, when it was announced that wrestling might be dropped from the Olympic programme, there was outrage.

Supporters pointed to a heritage which dated back to the Games of antiquity in Ancient Olympia. Wrestling was ultimately spared, but many International Federations (IFs) will be watching nervously over the next few months.

None more so than boxing which might well be excluded from the Games for the first time since 1912. In this sport, the problem is more a matter of governance. The IOC have made their attitude clear - if controversial Uzbek Gafur Rakhimov is elected President of the International Boxing Association then the sport's place is under threat.

For many years, the Olympic Charter simply specified that "only sports widely practiced by men in 50 countries over three continents and women in 35 countries may be included in the Games".

In more recent years, a detailed IOC questionnaire covered such topics as gender equality, universality, television coverage, global audiences, medal spread and youth appeal. It asked for details of "steps taken by your IF to present your sport in the most interesting and attractive manner, in particular to young people''. 

When archery was re-introduced in the 1970s, all the competitors fired at the targets simultaneously. Now that phase is used simply for the ranking round before the archers go head-to-head in a knock-out format.This makes it much easier for the spectators to follow progress.

Modern pentathlon used to be over five gruelling days. Now it is condensed into one equally gruelling day and shooting and running are combined into a demanding but gripping laser-run finale.

Other sports have made subtle adjustments to their format, all in the cause of remaining on the Olympic programme.

Nine of the sports to be contested in Tokyo have been added or re-introduced since the year 2000.

Expect the buzzwords ''youth'' and ''urban'' to be bandied around rather a lot in the next few months as the lobbying continues to join the circus for 2024 and beyond.