3-on-3 basketball added to 2020 program

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The IOC added 3-on-3 basketball to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic program on Friday in an effort to give the games a more youthful and urban appeal.

In another move toward street sports, BMX Freestyle cycling will join the Olympics for the first time among a net increase of 15 gold medals for a 321-event program.

However, the International Olympic Committee cut 285 athlete places from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games with track and field losing 105 spots.

The overall athlete quota for 28 core sports will be 10,616 athletes in Tokyo, including 64 in 3-on-3 basketball. There will be eight teams in each of the men’s and women’s tournaments of the half-court format which was introduced at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore.

An urban Tokyo venue for 3-on-3 basketball could be announced when the IOC executive board meets again in Lausanne on July 9-10, IOC sports director Kit McConnell said.

Track cycling will add men’s and women’s madison races in 2020 — in a velodrome about 80 miles outside Tokyo — and swimming will add men’s 800-meter freestyle and women’s 1,500 freestyle.

Swimming also gets a 4x100-meter mixed medley relay among a broad increase in mixed gender events, including a 4x400 mixed relay on the track.

Events confirmed Friday are in addition to decisions last August to include sports climbing, skateboarding, surfing, baseball and softball, and karate in the Tokyo program.