The long fight to get to Tokyo
Jacques Delcourt is considered among the first — since the 1970s — to seek for the inclusion of karate at the Summer Olympic Games.
Nothing happened for a long time until 2009 when karate featured in the agenda of the 121st International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting. However, karate did not receive the necessary two-thirds majority vote to become an Olympic sport.
The next significant step was during the IOC’s executive board meeting held in Russia on May 29, 2013 where it was decided that karate (along with wushu and several other nonmartial arts) would not be considered for inclusion at the 2020 Games.
In September 2015, karate was included in a shortlist along with baseball, softball, skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing to be considered for inclusion at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
In June 2016, the Executive Board of the IOC announced that they would support the proposal to include all these shortlisted sports in Tokyo.
Finally, on August 3, 2016 all five sports (baseball and softball were counted as one sport) were approved for inclusion at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In Tokyo, the karate competition will see athletes competing for 12 medals — ten for kumite (five categories each for men and women) and two in kata (one each for men and women).