Olympic boost as program expands

THE introduction of sports in which Australia is traditionally strong will ensure the country will once again punch above its weight at next year’s rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games.

Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) officials are predicting the nation could have one of the biggest teams at the Games, despite being down the population rankings compared with other countries.

Australia has already qualified teams for 13 sports, and plenty of individuals still have the chance to book a berth.

Karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding will each make their Olympic debut next year.

Baseball and softball are back on the roster for the first time since Beijing 2008, and there are new events in established sports, including 3x3 basketball and freestyle BMX.

Madison cycling, formerly just an event for men at Olympic level, will return after missing the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games. In Tokyo there will be madison events for men and for women.

AOC chief executive Matt Carroll stressed it was not all about chasing podium placings when it comes to the size of the Australian team.

“Australians love their sport and we are a very multicultural nation and the diversity of sport in the Olympics is huge,” Carroll said. “They brought in skateboarding, surfing, added two sports which Australians are quite good at as well, Rugby Sevens, which came in before [in 2016], golf. They are the sort of sports we qualify for.

“Our policy is if athletes qualify for the Games and they are nominated by sports, they go. It’s not just about medals, [though] of course we want to celebrate gold silver and bronze. But if an Australian made the final of the men’s or women’s 100m [track athletics], that in itself is [like winning] gold in other sports.”