Karate Alberta is proud to announce that the International Olympic Committee has unanimously approved the decision to include Karate in the 2020 Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo, Japan. This news represents a major historic milestone for the sport of karate, and the result of many years of sustained efforts by the WKF and all member National Karate Federations around the globe. This is a day of great celebration and rejoicing for the Canadian and global karate communities!
World Karate Federation (WKF)
World governing body for karate 192 member National Federations including Karate Canada
Road to the Olympic Games
26 IOC-recognised International Federations originally applied for inclusion. 8 of these were shortlisted in June: baseball and softball, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, surfing, bowling, squash and wushu.
The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee endorsed the proposal to add 5 of these sports in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Baseball and softball, karate, roller sports, sport climbing and surfing).
All 5 recommended sports have now been added to the Olympic programme for Tokyo 2020, through a unanimous vote during the IOC Session held on August 3rd, in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
In total, the five sports will add nearly 500 athletes and 18 events to the program. Out of the five sports, only baseball and softball have been part of the Olympic schedule before.
What has been proposed & accepted:
- Individual KATA categories (10 male and 10 female)
- Individual KUMITE categories (3 male categories and 3 female categories each of 10 athletes).
- Total of 80 athletes for karate
- Don’t have information yet on qualification process
Karate Canada:
Karate Canada is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1963 AND constituted under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act, with the objective of describing and incorporating all activities related to the promotion, organization, regulation and popularization of the sport of karate all over Canada, of protecting the physical and emotional health of athletes, and of promoting the interests of karate throughout Canada. Karate Canada and its 11 member Provincial and Territorial Associations assemble roughly 16,000 participants nationwide. Furthermore, Karate Canada is a proud member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, the World Karate Federation and the Pan American Karate Federation.
