If you love sports, you are probably familiar with what sports are in the Olympics and are a fan of them as well. The modern Olympics are sporting events held on an international level. Sportsmen and sportswomen take part in the Olympics from around the globe every four years.
Tokyo 2020
The Olympics happens in different countries and this year, it was scheduled in Tokyo. The event was supposed to begin on Friday, 23rd July 2021, and end on Sunday, 8th August. However, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the 2020 Olympics have been postponed to July in the next year.
The International Olympic Committee also stated that it would not delay the Olympics beyond 2021 whether the Pandemic ends or not. The theme for the Olympics in 2021 will be “The Games that conquered Covid”.
The Tokyo 2020 Chief Executive Toshiro Muto stated that they could have held the games with a limited audience. However, they decided not to do so because it had a risk of losing spectators. The games will be held in 2021 and a vaccine is not a prerequisite for it.
The Olympics Journey
The first Olympics games happened in Athens, Greece in 1896 and it had only about nine sports included. The sports included were wrestling, weightlifting, tennis, swimming, shooting, gymnastics, fencing, cycling, and athletics. From 1896 up till now, quite a few changes have taken place.
A few years back, the host country of the Olympics decided which of the sports were to be included. This has changed ever since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was formed and now it has that authority. Over time, sports have been added, removed, and reinstated in the Olympics.
In the 2021 Olympics, around 33 sports have been scheduled to be a part of the Olympics.
Addition, Removal, and Reinstatement of sports
Sports added to the Olympics must be popular on an International level among both men and women. The sport is then started as a Demonstration Sport and if it is successful, it can become an official Olympic sport.
When a game loses its popularity, it is removed from the Olympics such as baseball and softball. But these sports were later on reinstated. A sport can be reinstated if people demand the IOC for its revival.
Summer and Winter Sports
Before we dive into the list, you will need to understand three terms: sports, discipline, and event. A sport can be aquatics and it can include multiple disciplines such as swimming. In each discipline, there are events such as freestyle; breaststroke, and backstroke.
Summer sports include archery, artistic swimming, athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, cycling, diving, breaking, canoeing, fencing, football, etc. Winter sports include alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, ice hockey, luge, snowboarding, speed skating, curling, skeleton, etc.
