Skateboarding is in the Tokyo Summer Olympics. Let me repeat that. Skateboarding… is in… The Olympics. Now, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, I think it’s really cool. I’ve been into skateboarding ever since I saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles doing it in the sewer back in the movies. I just think it’s really interesting that there are still signs at my local library that read: “Don’t grind on the rails,” but the best skaters in the world are doing just that and being rewarded for it.
But skateboarding isn’t the only new sport in the Tokyo Summer Olympics, as Karate, surfing, sport climbing (Like Cliffhanger!), 3 on 3 Basketball, and Freestyle BMX are all either debuting or will have debuted by the time you read this article. And that got me to thinking: What are some other sports that I would love to one day see in the Summer Olympics? Well, you’re about to find out.
Darts
Now, I have some good news if you’re into Darts. The powers that be at the World Darts Federation (WDF) have apparently already been working on getting Darts into the Olympics one day in the future. The sport, which involves a great deal of hand-eye coordination, is typically seen in bars where hand-eye coordination is usually not a person’s strong suit after knocking back a few brewskies. Darts is also an extremely well-known sport that you see in movies all the time, like Sonic the Hedgehog where Sonic misses the board completely, Young Frankenstein, where Gene Wilder’s character hilariously doesn’t hit the board, and in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, where Chris Evans is shooting darts as Johnny Storm, and accidentally lights the board on fire. So, yes, people all over the world know what Darts is. It’s a very popular sport.
And that’s why I think it should be in the Olympics! Now look, I know what some people are going to say. They’re going to say that darts isn’t a real sport since you don’t really move all that much. But do people move all that much in archery? Do they move all that much in shooting events? What about horse dancing? The horse is doing all the fancy moves in that sport! The fact is, some people take darts very seriously, and I think it would be cool if it was added in the Olympics. Plus, I’m actually not terrible at Darts, so it’s the one sport that I could imagine possibly competing in. Well, that is until answering The Simpsons trivia becomes an official sport one day.
Pool
The coolest sport in the world (says me) has also never been in the Olympics, but there’s been a push for it since the 1950’s. Why hasn’t Pool ever been included then? Well, there are some theories. One such theory is that not every country in the world participates in the game. And another is that the International Olympics Committee doesn’t think Pool is popular enough to include in the Olympics. Whatever the reason, people have tried and failed. That said, Filipino legend, Efren “Beta” Reyes, would have loved to have played in this current Olympics. Oh, well.
But man, I would have loved to have seen that. I have loved the game of Pool ever since I saw that one The Twilight Zone episode, “A Game of Pool,” which was super intense. I also loved The Color of Money with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. Pool is just a badass sport, and I would LOVE to see the best in the world compete. And if trick shooting was a sport like freestyle BMX, oh, baby. That would be so sweet. I get why it hasn’t been made into an Olympic sport, but still. It would be awesome.
Roller Derby
You know what sucks? Roller Derby, that rock ‘em sock ‘em roller skating contact sport, was actually being considered for THIS Olympics, but it never came to fruition. I’m not really sure why Roller Derby, which includes awesome terms like jammer, packs, and power jam, didn’t make it into the Olympics. But to know it was close but didn’t get in is really upsetting to me!
You ever watch Whip It with Elliot Page and Drew Barrymore? Or, if we’re going really old-school, that alternative Roller Derby movie, Rollerball (The cool James Caan one. Not the terrible LL Cool J remake)? If so, then you’ll know just how cool people going around in circles on skates and knocking people over can be. I’d especially love to see this on an Olympic level because we really don’t see contact sports like that in the Olympics, especially from women.
Bowling
Bowling has actually probably come the closest out of all the sports on this list to being an Olympic sport. It was a demonstration program in the 1988 Olympics as well as the 1996 Olympics, and was even close to being in this Olympics. Unfortunately, it's believed that it was cut because the Olympic commission wanted to appeal to younger generations. So, sorry, tenpin fans, but this was just not your year.
Bowling is a sport I love since you do not have to be in peak physical shape to be considered an athlete. It also has a special place in my heart because of movies like The Big Lebowski, which has my boy, John Goodman, in it, and of course Kingpin with Bill Murray and Woody Harrelson. It also makes me think back to the fries and burgers I used to pig out on at my local bowling alley. And then I would play Darkstalkers with my greasy hands. So, yeah. Okay, I kind of get the reputation that it has, but so what! It’s the every-person sport. And we need more of those in the Olympics, dammit!
Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) goes by many names: Ultimate fighting, no holds barred, and my personal favorite, cage fighting. But all of them are some kind of competition where various fighting styles are used to take down an opponent. Some of these styles includes several that are already Olympic sports, such as Boxing, Karate, Judo, Wrestling, and Taekwondo. So, why isn’t it an Olympic sport yet, you ask. It's pretty much the decathlon of fighting, right?
Well, that might just be one of the problems, as it would kind of make other disciplines feel obsolete and pointless. Another possible reason is that it might not be a sport that other countries really participate in. Lastly, even though the other fighting disciplines can get bloody, MMA can get REALLY bloody, so maybe the Olympic committee wouldn’t want that, er, blood on their hands. Who’s to say, really? Even though the concept of Mixed Martial Arts has been around for ages, the actual commercialism of the sport wasn’t really established until around 1993 when the UFC was formed, so it’s still a relatively young sport. Maybe it just needs some more years underneath its black belt to get recognized by the Olympic committee.
But I think it would be super dope to watch Mixed Martial Arts on an Olympic level. I love watching all the different disciplines, and this would be the closest I would ever get to seeing Mortal Kombat in real life, so that’s something to hope and pray for, right?
In the end, I’m just personally happy—I can’t speak for anybody else—that we even got the Olympics this year. But what do you think of the sports I proposed? Which one of them would you most like to see become an Olympic sport? Make your voice heard in the poll below. And for news on the 2021 summer TV schedule make sure to stop by here often!
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