Four Exciting New Sports Joining the Olympics

Get ready for an unforgettable Olympic experience as four thrilling new competitions are introduced, pushing the boundaries of athletic excellence.

Sport Climbing

“This event is broken down into three events. Speed, bouldering, and a final round that includes both.”

Speed Portion of Sport Climbing

“Each athlete will climb the wall twice — once in Lane A and once in Lane B — the fastest of their two times will count. Their second climbs will be used to break a tie.”

Bouldering Portion of Sport Climbing

“Athletes are not allowed to preview the route before they compete. Once they emerge, they are given five minutes to complete all four boulder problems, and up to four athletes can compete simultaneously.”

“Climbers earn 25 points for each boulder successfully topped, but if they fail to reach the top of one, they can still earn 5 points for reaching the first checkpoint or 10 points for reaching the second checkpoint.”

“For each failed attempt before successfully reaching a top or a checkpoint, 0.1 points are deducted from their score.”

Lead Portion of Sport Climbing

“Climbers are given a six-minute observation period before the start of the round. They will then have six minutes to ascend the wall as high as they can, but only one attempt is allowed.”

“Points are awarded based on how high the climber ascends. The highest 40 holds on the wall are all assigned point values — 4 points for the highest 10 holds, 3 points for the next 10 holds, and so on.”

“Moving unsuccessfully toward the next hold awards the athlete .01 points. Climbers can earn a maximum of 100 points by reaching the top of the wall in under six minutes.”

“Each climber can earn up to 100 points. To do so requires them to successfully top each of the four boulder problems in a single attempt.”

“Scores from the bouldering and lead portions are combined into an overall score — 100 points are available in each discipline, so 200 points is the maximum combined score each athlete can earn — and the climbers with the top eight overall scores advance to the final round.”

Breaking aka Breakdancing

“Olympic breaking sees 16 men and 16 women (called “B-Boys” and “B-Girls”) that will compete at the Paris Games.”

“Each battle, also called a throw down, features a best-of-three, one-on-one contest of approximately one minute. When one breaker finishes their round, their opponent instantly begins their routine in a battle format.”

“Each breaker is judged individually by a panel of judges on six criteria (creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity and musicality). The breaker with the highest score moves on.”

“There are a few basic elements that form what we know as breaking: top rock, down rock and freeze.”

“Moves performed while standing up, with a heavy emphasis on footwork, are known as top rock, while down rock refers to moves on the floor. These include spins, footwork and power moves.”

“Power moves are a crucial component of breaking, during which athletes spin their bodies using their hands, elbows, back, head or shoulders for support. These require massive amounts of balance and strength.”

“The freeze is when the breaker comes to a stop in a funky position, often hoisting themselves up with their hands or head, at a break in the music.”

Skateboarding

“Each competition starts with 22 skaters and includes two rounds of competition: a preliminary round and a final round. Both rounds will take place on the same day.”

“Each skater will be able to take two 45-second runs and attempt five tricks. Only the skater’s best run and two best tricks will count toward their overall score. The top eight skaters will advance to the final round.”

“Each skater will be able to take two 45-second runs and attempt five tricks. Only the skater’s best run and two best tricks will count toward their overall score. Scores from the preliminary round do not carry over to the final. The athlete with the highest overall score will be the winner.”

“Each run and each trick will be scored on a scale of 0-100 points based on overall impression, taking into account the difficulty, execution and variety of the skater’s tricks. Because one run and two tricks are used to calculate each skater’s overall score, the maximum overall score any athlete can earn is 300 points.”

“During the trick phase of the competition, skaters can choose to have a trick scrubbed if they wish to improve upon it. This gives them a zero for the previous trick attempt and allows them to repeat the same trick with being penalized for it.”

“In the event of a tie; the highest run score is the first tie breaker. The highest-scoring single trick is the second tie breaker.”

Surfing

“The Olympic surfing competition will feature six rounds: Rounds 1, 2 and 3, followed by the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.”

“Round 1 will consist of eight heats of three surfers each. The winner of each heat advances directly to Round 3, while the other two surfers go to Round 2.”

“In Round 2, there will be eight heats of two surfers, with the winner advancing to Round 3 and the loser getting eliminated.”

“Starting with Round 3, also known as the Round of 16, the competition functions as a single-elimination, head-to-head bracket.”

“Each heat will feature two surfers, with the winner advancing to the next round and the loser getting eliminated.”

“The losers of the two semifinal heats will compete in the bronze-medal match. The winners compete for gold and silver. During each heat, athletes will be scored on their two-best waves. The athlete with the highest total score will win the heat.”

Source: www.nbcolympics.com

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