Wushu to make Youth Olympics debut in 2022

LAUSANNE: After appearing as special exhibition events at both the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, wushu will make its debut as an official sport at the 2022 Dakar Youth Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee ( IOC) confirmed at Wednesday’s executive board meeting.

Xinhua News Agency reported that it is the first time that wushu, widely known as Chinese Kungfu, will be officially included in Olympic competition.

It is a long-awaited breakthrough for the International Wushu Federation which submitted its application for inclusion to the IOC in 2001, 2008 and 2011 respectively, but failed each time.

The first two applications were rejected in the initial stage.

The third application in 2011 made it to the final round of voting for participation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games but fell agonisingly short and missed out once again.

With a long history and deep roots in the country’s cultural and spiritual traditions, Chinese traditional wushu elegantly unites the body and spirit. China wishes to share these qualities with the world.

Following the promotional efforts of the International Wushu Federation and Chinese Wushu Association, wushu has gained a wide-ranging popularity across the world, especially among young participants.

Statistics show that, today, about 120 million people are engaged in wushu around the globe.

China’s endeavour to get wushu recognised as an official Olympic event accelerates the internationalisation of this traditional sport.

Last year, China issued a proposal for building a sporting powerhouse, in which they prioritised “Wushu to enter the Olympic Games as soon as possible”.

Wednesday’s announcement