Events 12 (men: 6; women: 6) | ||
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Karate will make its first appearance as an Olympic sport at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. It will feature two events, Kumite and Kata. 60 Competitors from around the world will compete in the Kumite competition and 20 will compete in the Kata competition.Both divisions of competition will be split 50/50 between men and women.
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Background
The quest to bring karate to the Olympics began in 1970's by Jacques Delcourt.
In 2009, in the 121st International Olympic Committee voting, karate did not receive the necessary two-thirds majority vote to become an Olympic sport. Karate was being considered for the 2020 Olympics,—however at a meeting of the IOC's executive board, held in Russia on May 29, 2013, it was decided that karate (along with wushu and several non-martial arts) would not be considered for inclusion in 2020 at the IOC's 125th session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September 2013.
Bid for inclusion
On September 28, 2015, karate was featured on a shortlist along with baseball, softball, skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing to be considered for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympics. On June 1, 2016, the International Olympic Committee's executive board announced they were supporting the inclusion of all five sports (counting baseball and softball as only one sport) for inclusion in the 2020 Games.
Kumite
The individual tournament for the Kumite competition at the World Karate Federation (WKF) Karate World Championships is held under a weight class system comprising five divisions for both men and women.
Kata
Competitors are judged on the speed and power of their techniques. Under conventional competition rules, one competitor is assigned a blue belt and the other a red belt, and each take turns demonstrating his or her kata. The outcome of the competition is determined under a flag system, where five judges who each have a blue flag and a red flag raise either to signal which competitor, they believe, won: the one with more flags raised in his or her favour is declared the winner.