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Tokyo Paralympics: Which new sports are being included for the first time in Japan?

Twenty-two disciplines on show at the Games, with seven-a-side football and sailing not returning after Rio

Joe Sommerlad

Thursday 19 August 2021 11:13 BST

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The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games are almost upon us, beginning with what is expected to be another spectacular firework-led opening ceremony from the Olympic Stadium in the Japanese capital on Tuesday 24 August.

The action gets underway in earnest a day later, with an estimated 4,350 athletes from 160 countries taking part in 539 events across 22 sports in 21 venues over the two-week duration of the Games before matters draw to a close on Sunday 5 September.

Excitingly, two new sports not played at the Rio 2016 Games will be on show in Tokyo, para badminton and para taekwondo, with seven-a-side football and sailing missing out to accommodate them.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced its decision on the matter as long ago as 31 January 2015 at a meeting in the UAE, with IPC president Sir Philip Craven commenting: “I’d like to pay testament to the sports of badminton and taekwondo for the work they have undertaken in securing their place at a Paralympic Games for the first time.

“To reach this decision, the IPC undertook the most extensive and rigorous review process ever of all the sports which started in November 2013. All were assessed against the same criteria and our aim all along has been to ensure that the final Tokyo 2020 Paralympic sports programme is fresh and features the best para-sports possible.”

The IPC subsequently announced a programme of 14 badminton events - seven men’s, six women’s and one mixed - for the Tokyo Games, in which a total of 90 competitors (46 men and 44 women) will take part across singles, doubles and mixed doubles events.

You can read more about the sport on the official Paralympics site.

As for taekwondo, a version of the sport playable by those with impairments is actually a relatively new development, first introduced in 2005 ahead of its first world championship appearance four years later.

The martial art is divided into two disciplines at para level: kyorugi for athletes with upper limb impairments and poomsae for those with neurological impairments, intellectual disabilities or visual impairments. Only the former will be part of the Tokyo Games.

Events in Japan will be divided into four sport classes, from K41 to K44, with K41 being for athletes with the greatest degree of impairment and K44 for those with the least. K43 and K44 are being considered as one sport class in Tokyo 2020.

Men and women will each compete in three weight classes: -61 kg, -75kg and +75kg for men, -49kg, -58kg and +58kg for women.

Head and trunk protection are worn in all bouts to ensure participants are protected, their matches taking place on an octagonal court over three two-minute rounds with one-minute rest intervals.

Competitors are awarded between two and four points for valid attacks, with an extra round held if the scores are still level after the initial three.