Olympics

Karate in sports programme of Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2022

2019-12-04

Karate in sports programme of Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2022

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board agreed today to add Karate to the sports programme of the 2022 Youth Olympic Games to be held in Dakar (Senegal). The decision represents another outstanding milestone for the sport, and it gives Karate one more opportunity to its many values at the Olympic stage after the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board agreed today to add Karate to the sports programme of the 2022 Youth Olympic Games to be held in Dakar (Senegal). The decision represents another outstanding milestone for the sport, and it gives Karate one more opportunity to its many values at the Olympic stage after the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Inspired by the success of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Karate will continue in the programme of the biggest underage sporting event in the world. The sport made its Olympic debut in Buenos Aires in 2018; It was a thrilling tournament that forever changed the history of the discipline.

“The decision to Karate in the programme of Dakar 2022 is again a great achievement for our sport. Karate will its significant youth appeal at the event in Dakar in 2022, and we will demonstrate, once again, that Karate deserves to be an Olympic core sport. I am sure that the whole Karate world will celebrate this fantastic news; all of us in unity will be ready to experience another landmark moment for Karate,” said WKF President Antonio Espinós.

The Youth Olympic Games 2022 are scheduled from October 21 to November 15, 2022. While the dates of the Karate competition are yet to be confirmed, the Karate tournament in Dakar will comprise six Kumite categories, with three categories per gender. The number of competitors will be increased from eight per category in Buenos Aires to 12 per category in Dakar.

CLICK HERE to go to the IOC press release.