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Watch these one-minute videos to learn about the four new Tokyo Olympic sports

Get a crash course on karate, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing at the Tokyo Olympics

Kaila Imada
Written by
Kaila Imada
Associate Editor, Time Out Tokyo
Surfing stock image
Photo: Duncan Noakes/DreamstimeAn undated stock photo of a surfer riding a wave
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The Tokyo Olympic Games are off to a great start for Japan, which has already seen its youngest medalist ever win gold in skateboarding. But that’s just one of the four new sports added to the roster this time around. This year’s Summer Olympics sees the debut of karate, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing.

For a quick primer, the Olympics has released these helpful and cute ‘One Minute, One Sport’ videos to give you a quick rundown on the rules and highlights of the 55 Olympic sports, including the four new ones.

In this one-minute video, you'll learn that karate includes both kata (forms) and kumite (sparring), which demonstrate offensive and defensive moves against an opponent.

Sport climbing is broken down into three main disciplines: speed, bouldering and lead. This video shows how athletes will compete in each of the three categories and how their total score is calculated.

If seeing 13-year-old Momiji Nishiya take gold got you wondering how skateboarding works, this video is a good introduction. Skateboarding is judged on two disciplines: street and park. ​​Street is where athletes will do tricks while riding along a course that looks like a real street, whereas in park, they will demonstrate mid-air tricks and skills in a bowl-shaped course.

This video (click the link for the English version) is all about surfing, which sees athletes riding waves on short boards while showcasing their moves and techniques. Surfers will be judged on their maneuvers based on degree of difficulty, speed, power and novelty.

If you’re in or around Tokyo, you can even try out some of these sports for yourself. Prefer to watch? You can tune in online to catch all the action live for free. 

Keep up-to-date with our Tokyo 2020 Olympics medal tally for Japan.

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