Sportco's 10 recommended Sports that should be included at the Olympic games

The Olympic Games have grown from 241 to more than 10,000 competitors since its beginning in Athens with the 1896 Games. Several sports have been added over the years, with almost 100 events being added since 1980 alone. 

Although fans of many recreational activities hope to see their interests become official Olympic sports, only a few receive one of the coveted slots in the competition.

At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, we witnessed the debut of new sports such as 3x3 basketball, BMX freestyle, Madison biking, and many more mixed events. While some appear to be obvious options, there are a plethora of other sports that deserve a chance to compete for gold. 

Here are our top 10 sports that could be included in the Olympic Games.

1) Chess

In the 1920s, the International Olympic Committee acknowledged chess as a sport and was planned to be part of the Paris 1924 Games, but it was eventually omitted because of the difficulty to distinguish between amateur and professional players. 

The World Chess Federation today calls for the sport's inclusion in the Olympics, and the organization often enacts rules to ensure they are abiding by the IOC's regulations.

2) Cricket

Cricket has over 2.5 billion fans and is the world's second most-watched sport in the world. Surprisingly, cricket is still not part of the Olympics despite its huge fan base. 

Initially, Cricket took place during the inaugural modern games in 1896 but was canceled later as a result of a lack of participants. With discussions to include cricket in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the sport could find a spot on the roster soon.

From the viewership perspective, this would be a win-win situation for the organizers to include Cricket as an official sport at the Olympic Games.

3) Squash

Squash is a global game, with over 20 million players and 47,000 courts across the globe. While Egypt dominates both the men’s and women’s games, there are top players from each of the 6 continents and there would be many opportunities l for athletes outside of the traditional Olympic powerhouses to attain a medal.

4) Paddle Tennis

It’s actually one of the fastest-growing sports in the world and in Spain in particular. It’s estimated that padel tennis is played by between six to 10 million Spaniards alone. 

With the rise of padel tennis across the world, Padel tennis has fulfilled the requirement set by the IOC to be played across all continents. The sport is not too far away from becoming recognized and being part of the Olympic Games in near future.

5) Dodgeball

The World Dodgeball Association is the official governing body of global dodgeball. Governing 62 national federations with almost approximately 68 million participants, the organization is vying to get the sport included in the Olympics, aiming for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. 

With a huge following of the game, it will be hard for the IOC to deny access.

6) Tug of war

Tug-of-war was an Olympic sport from 1900 to 1920, but these days it holds the reputation of being a playground game or team-building exercise. 

But with an international governing body, the Tug of War International Federation, has more than 60 member associations worldwide, and annual world championships are held for both indoor and outdoor events. And could be soon reinstalled back in the Olympics.

7) Kabaddi

Although featured as a demonstration sport at the 1936 Berlin Games, Kabaddi was never included in the Olympic games. Although as a sport originating in India and not known much to the outside world, the inclusion of the sport in the Asian Games has spread its fame throughout the world with its fanbase growing in number.

8) Bowling

This popular world sport has had links to the Olympic Games years ago. Bowling was an official demonstration sport at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.With the sport being part of other major events throughout the world. fans and enthusiasts continue to pour support to watch their favorite bowlers knock pins and get strikes on the Olympic stage.

9) MMA

Mixed Martial Arts is a brutal yet fascinating sport. Sports such as boxing, wrestling, and martial arts existing in today's competition, mixed martial arts do not come in as a total outsider. 

Though with less protection in the sport, no pads and helmets are used compared to others. MMA is one of the fastest-growing sports worldwide, gaining international support throughout and could be a welcome addition to the combat sport category at the Olympic games in the future. 

10) Esports

Before the Tokyo Olympics, The Olympics Virtual Series was a pre-show with players competing against each other in hybrid virtual sports like Zwift, a cycling game played on a stationary bike, and Virtual Regatta Inshore, a sailing simulator, etc which is the first time video games have been integrated into the Olympics. 

This will be a sport soon to be made official for the Olympics to maintain relevance in these modern, electronic times.

Which of the above sport are you looking forward to being included at the Olympic Games? Also, do let us know in the comments the games you feel could be added to this list. 

Stay tuned with Sportco as we bring you exciting and intriguing content revolving around the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.