KUALA LUMPUR, 22 Feb 2019:
Karate’s dream of flying high with its debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is now short-lived after the Paris excluded the combat sports from the 2024 edition.
World Karate Federation (WKF) president Antonio Espinos said the world governing body is deeply saddened by the announcement that karate will not be included as an additional sport 2024 Paris Olympics.
Instead, international news reports indicated breakdancing, surfing, sport climbing and skateboarding as the four additional sports to be included in the Paris edition.
Karate, baseball/softball, squash and petanque are among the 20 sports federations affiliated to the International Olympic Committee that have applied for inclusion.
“Our sport has grown exponentially over the last years and we still haven’t had the chance to prove our value as an Olympic sport since we will be making our debut as an Olympic discipline in Tokyo. Over the last months, we have worked relentlessly, together with the French Federation, to achieve our goal of being included in Paris 2024.
“We believed that we had met all the requirements and that we had the perfect conditions to be added to the sports programme; however, we have learned today that our dream will not be coming true,” Espinos said in a statement posted in the WKF’s website www.wkf.net.
WKF stressed that karate has 100 million fans from 194 national federations globally, where the last World Championship in 2018 had attracted participation of 1,200 athletes from 131 nations, with broadcast in 186 countries.
According to the statement, karate has over 255,000 affiliated athletes from 5,000 over clubs in France, whereby the west European country has claimed 15 world titles in the last four World Championships to remain as a karate powerhouse.
“France is one of the strongest countries in karate…We had founded hopes to be in Paris 2024 due to the strength and popularity of our sport in France. Sadly, we have received the very bad news for karate that our sport will be excluded from this list,” Espinos said.
“Once again, we must recover quickly and continue working as we have always done. This is how we have been capable to have a Federation and a sport that we all can feel proud of. Therefore, I count on your support and cooperation as always.”
For the 2020 Tokyo edition, a total of eight gold medals, six for kumite (sparring) and two in kata (pattern) will be in contention.
– Bernama