[ad_1]
Japanese martial arts has been neglected three times in the past. Although it is very popular in France, it will not become a part of Paris 2024.
When karate makes its debut at the Olympics on Thursday, it will be more than just the contestants who prove themselves on the world’s largest sports arena.
After this ancient Japanese martial art has been left out in the cold for the past three times, it will have a long-awaited opportunity to persuade global audiences that it belongs to the Olympics-and it will also be left out in the cold by the Paris 2024 organizers.
Karate was initially excluded from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but because a new “2020 Olympic Agenda” clause allows the host country to propose multiple sports, the position of karate is guaranteed.
In the three-day karate event, about 80 athletes from 35 countries and regions and the refugee Olympic team will compete for eight gold medals at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.
When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved Tokyo Karate in 2016, officials of the World Karate Federation believed that since the sport’s followers in France may be larger than in its native Japan, they also put karate in Paris. In the bag.
“We had a good atmosphere at the time,” a WKF official told Reuters, describing the meeting with the Paris 2024 organizers. The official declined to be named because these conversations are not public.
However, in the end, the Paris organizers abandoned karate and added break dancing, while retaining the other three sports proposed for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics: surfing, rock climbing and skateboarding.
French player Alexandra Ferrach participates in the knockout round at the Nippon Budokan.Karate will make its debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but will be eliminated at the Paris Olympics [Annegret Hilse/Reuters]Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, praised the decision to make the Olympics “more urbanized and provide opportunities to connect with the younger generation.”
Since the Olympics have been crowded with other four fighting sports-wrestling, boxing, judo and taekwondo-the opportunities for karate in Los Angeles and other areas do not look good.
“I think the significance is, if it is rejected by Paris, what chance does it have elsewhere?” Yuko Takahashi said, she was a former national team “karateist” or karate fighter, and she recalled playing in a crowded arena in France as well as Her French counterpart enjoyed superstar status there.
“It’s interesting to see how audiences around the world view karate as an Olympic Games,” said Takahashi, chairman of the Japan Traditional Karate Association.
The karate athletes of the Tokyo Olympics said that they will only focus on their own games and hope that this will bring good results to their discipline.
“If we go all out, I think we will be able to contribute to the reputation of karate in the Olympics after the next Olympics,” Ryo Kiyuna, who won the gold medal, told reporters this month.
The Russian Karate Federation said on Wednesday that Anna Chernysheva, the only karate player representing the Russian Olympic Committee who participated in competitions under 55 kg, has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be able to participate in the competition.
[ad_2]
Source link