With just 64 days to go until the Rio 2016 Olympic Games get underway, Tokyo 2020 might seem like an age away from the minds of the athletes preparing to fly to Brazil in just a matter of weeks.
But preparations for the Olympic Games in four years’ time continue, and on Thursday, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee officially supported the proposal to add a package of five new sports to the 2020 programme.
If the proposal is approved at the 129th IOC Session in Rio in August, the change would see the most comprehensive evolution of the Olympic programme in modern history.
The five sports on offer – karate, skateboarding, sports climbing, surfing and baseball/softball – give strength to Tokyo 2020’s focus on youth, with all five representing well-established and emerging sports both in Japan and worldwide.
The inclusion of these sports would add 18 events and 474 athletes to the Olympic programme, without impacting on current sports, but while the decision won’t be confirmed until August, here’s a look at all five sports to whet your appetite.
While many might think baseball is just a sport for our friends across the pond it is actually the national sport of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela and has huge popularity in Japan as well as other countries like Cuba.
If selected it wouldn't be the first time that the sport has made an appearance at the Games with baseball recognised as an Olympic sport at the 1992 Games and featuring every four years until Beijing 2008.
Japan's first baseball team was founded in 1878 and, with world class facilities already in place in the country and millions of followers, after upsetting the USA for gold in Beijing, the sport could prove a huge hit in 2020.
Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, said: "The entire baseball and softball world is excited and ready to cross the Olympic home plate.”
Should karate be given the green light for Tokyo 2020, it will end a journey that has come full circle for the sport, with its existence being traced back to the Japanese island of Okinawa less than 200 years ago.
After being popularised by Gichin Funakoshi the martial art spread worldwide and now has more than 100 million practitioners.
Despite its vast popularity, the sport has never been contested at an Olympic Games despite vying for inclusion in 2012 and 2016 – though it was included in the programme for the inaugural European Games in Baku last year.
The World Karate Federation believes the inclusion of the sport in 2020 will give hopes and dreams to everybody in the karate world, as well as inspiring the athletes of the future.
Street and park skateboarding were included in the proposal, ahead of other roller sports including roller hockey, speed skating and artistic skating.
It’s governing body proposed a five-year set of events, including seminars, international cup, national and world championships and tours all throughout Japan.
If accepted by the IOC come August, skateboarding terms such as "disco flip", "roastbeef grab" and "mongo-foot" could become part of the modern Olympic vernacular.
Last year, after the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee proposed adding skateboarding to the programme, legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk admitted he was excited by the development.
“This is not only a great opportunity for our sport and the skaters, but also for the Games,” he said.
“It is now more important than ever to preserve the unique culture of skateboarding which makes our sport so appealing and relevant.”
Sport climbing is a variety of rock climbing and was chosen by the IOC as a demonstration sport at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.
With participants across the world rock climbing is one the world's most historic sports and has tens of millions of participants across the globe.
The discipline of sport climbing is generally youthful with the sport's governing body suggesting that the average age is 23 with 40% under 20.
“Together with our athletes and the National Federations, we are reaching new heights,” said Marco Scolaris, the President of the International Federation of Sport Climbing.
The sport of surfing has been part of Polynesian culture for hundreds of years before spreading globally and developing a unique culture and community of its own. While hugely popular in West Coast America as well as Hawaii and Australia the sport can be found almost anywhere with Britain also possessing some excellent surf spots.
“This is a wonderful moment for our sport and for the global surfing family,” said International Surfing Association President Fernando Aguerre.
“Surfing has incredible youth appeal and a unique culture that would offer huge value to the Olympic movement.” Sportsbeat 2016