Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: Is Karate a sport in the Olympics?
In September 2015, karate was included in a shortlist along with baseball, softball, skateboarding, surfing, and sport climbing to be considered for inclusion in the 2020 Summer Olympics; and in June 2016, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that they would support the proposal to include all of the shortlisted sports in the 2020 Games. Finally, on August 3, 2016, all five sports (counting baseball and softball together as one sport) were approved for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic program.
Wrestling is practiced all around the world - officially in 177 countries, some of which participate in the Olympic program just in this sport. It was initially dropped from the program for the 2020 games; however, the sport will have the opportunity to retain its spot in the Olympics. Wrestling will still be part of the program at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Wrestling was first introduced in the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BC and was a sport practiced in all the ancient Olympics from then till their abolition in 323 AD. It has been played at the Summer Olympics since the 1896 Olympics in Athens, and it has been a part of all modern Olympics except the 1900 Olympics in Paris.
Olympic sports are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2016 Summer Olympics included 28 sports, with five additional sports due to be added to the 2020 Summer Olympics program; the 2014 Winter Olympics included seven sports. The number and types of events may change slightly from one Olympiad to another. Each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing body, namely an International Federation (IF). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) establishes a hierarchy of sports, disciplines, and events. According to this hierarchy, each Olympic sport can be subdivided into multiple disciplines, which are often mistaken as distinct sports. Examples include swimming and water polo, which are in fact disciplines of the sport of aquatics (represented by the International Swimming Federation), and figure skating and speed skating, which are both disciplines of the sport of ice skating (represented by the International Skating Union). In turn, disciplines are subdivided into events, for which Olympic medals are awarded. A sport or discipline is included in the Olympic program if the IOC determines it to be widely practised around the world, that is, the popularity of a given sport or discipline is indicated by the number of countries that compete in it. The IOC's requirements also reflect participation in the Olympic Games – more stringent conditions are applied to men's sports/disciplines (as men are represented at the Games in higher numbers than women) and to summer sports/disciplines (as more nations compete in the Summer Olympics than in the Winter Olympics).
A sport or discipline may be included in the Olympic program if the IOC determines that it is widely practiced around the world, that is, the number of countries and continents that regularly compete in a given sport is the indicator of the sport's prevalence. The requirements for winter sports are considerably lower than for summer sports since many fewer nations compete in winter sports. The IOC also has lower requirements for inclusion of sports and disciplines for women for the same reason. 
Women are still barred from several disciplines; but on the other hand, there are women-only disciplines, such as rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming.
The Olympic Games programme consists of 35 sports, 30 disciplines and 408 events. For example, wrestling is a Summer Olympic sport, comprising two disciplines: Greco-Roman and Freestyle. It is further broken down into fourteen events for men and four events for women, each representing a different weight class. The Summer Olympics programme includes 26 sports, while the Winter Olympics programme features 15 sports. Athletics, swimming, fencing, and artistic gymnastics are the only summer sports that have never been absent from the Olympic programme. Cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and speed skating have been featured at every Winter Olympics programme since its inception in 1924. Current Olympic sports, like badminton, basketball, and volleyball, first appeared on the programme as demonstration sports, and were later promoted to full Olympic sports. Some sports that were featured in earlier Games were later dropped from the programme.
Wrestling had been contested at the Summer Olympic Games since the sport was introduced in the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BC. When the modern Olympic Games resumed in Athens in 1896, wrestling (in the form of Greco-Roman wrestling) became a focus of the Games, with the exception of the 1900 Summer Olympics when wrestling did not appear on the program. Freestyle wrestling and weight classes both made their first appearance in 1904. The women's competition was introduced in 2004.
The Olympic Games are an international multi-sport event featuring both summer and winter sports, held every two years with Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternating. During Olympic Games opening ceremonies, the sitting president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will make a speech before inviting a representative from the host country to officially declare that particular Games open. The current Olympic Charter requires this person to be the head of state of the host country, although this has not always been the case. This article lists the people who have had the ceremonial duty to declare each Olympic Games open.
Cricket is the most popular sport in the highly populous Indian subcontinent area, notably in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka.. The deadline for submissions for the initial sports programme has passed for the 2024 Summer Olympics, but hosts Paris will have an opportunity to propose events up until the IOC board meeting following the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Cricket has been a sport at the modern Summer Olympic Games. The only time it has been played was at the 1900 Summer Olympics with only a men's contest when Great Britain won the gold medal, but the possibility of it being contested at the Olympics again has recently resurfaced.
Kano Jigoro's Kodokan judo is the most popular and well-known style of judo, but is not the only one. The terms judo and jujutsu were quite interchangeable in the early years, so some of these forms of judo are still known as jujutsu or jiu-jitsu either for that reason, or simply to differentiate them from mainstream judo. From Kano's original style of judo, several related forms have evolved—some now widely considered to be distinct arts:Kano's vision for judo was one of a martial way that could be practiced realistically. Randori (free practice) was a central part of judo pedagogy and shiai (competition) a crucial test of a judoka's understanding of judo. Safety necessitated some basic innovations that shaped judo's development. Atemi waza (striking techniques) were entirely limited to kata (prearranged forms) early in judo's history. Kansetsu waza (joint manipulation techniques) were limited to techniques that focused on the elbow joint. Various throwing techniques that were judged to be too dangerous to practice safely were also prohibited in shiai. To maximise safety in nage waza (throwing techniques), judoka trained in ukemi (break falls) and practiced on tatami (rice straw mats).
When the First Modern Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896, Greco-Roman wrestling was introduced as an Olympic discipline. After not being featured in the 1900 Olympics, sports wrestling was seen again in 1904 in St. Louis; this time in freestyle competition. Since then, Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling have both been featured (with women's freestyle added in the Summer Olympics of 2004).
Pankration (; ) was a sporting event introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC and was an empty-hand submission sport with scarcely any rules. The athletes used boxing and wrestling techniques, but also others, such as kicking and holds, locks and chokes on the ground. The only things not acceptable were biting and gouging out the opponent's eyes.
In an effort to control the size and costs of the Summer Olympics, and make the Games "relevant to sports fans of all generations", the IOC evaluated the Olympic event programme in place for the 2016 Summer Olympics, and voted on 25 "core" sports that would comprise the programme of the 2020 Summer Olympics. One vacancy was to be left open for a new sport. In February 2013, IOC members voted to remove wrestling from the Olympic programme; "The New York Times" cited several potential factors in the decision, including the lack of universally-known talent unlike other sports, and concern for the lack of women's competitions in wrestling (having only introduced women's freestyle competitions in 2004). FILA (now United World Wrestling), the governing body of Olympic wrestling, immediately criticized the decision. The organization cited wrestling's long-standing history as an Olympic event, which dates as far back as the ancient Olympic Games.
Neither of the teams realised that they had competed in the Olympic Games, the match having been advertised as part of the world's fair. Although the IOC has never decided which events were "Olympic" and which were not, the medals won by the teams were later upgraded to gold for Great Britain and silver for France. The scheduled cricket competition at the 1904 Summer Olympics, held in St. Louis, was cancelled at short notice due to a lack of facilities, and the sport has not been included in the Olympic Games since.
As judo in the early days was often popularized outside Japan by means of public demonstrations given by judo experts, many exercises were presented in demonstration form, several for which names were invented in Europe by residing Japanese, who often had some martial arts, but relatively little judo experience. Now that "kaeshi-(no)-kata" in reality has no basis as an existing kata, it is evident that it also is not and never has been an officially recognized Kodokan kata. However, in Britain, this "kata" exists in two forms with minor variations in order and techniques, but its practice is almost entirely limited to public demonstrations or judo rank promotion tests.Alternatively:
Seven team sports are currently on the program of the Summer Olympics. Cricket's inclusion in the 2024 Summer Olympics depends on the decision of the International Cricket Council and its members. A cricket tournament formed part of the Summer Olympics in 1900, although only one match was played, between teams representing Great Britain and France. However, the British team was effectively a club touring side and the French players were drawn partly from expatriates living in Paris.
For example, aquatics is a summer Olympic sport that includes six disciplines: swimming, synchronized swimming, diving, water polo, open water swimming, and high diving (the last of which is a non-Olympic discipline), since all these disciplines are governed at international level by the International Swimming Federation. Skating is a winter Olympic sport represented by the International Skating Union, and includes four disciplines: figure skating, speed skating (on a traditional long track), short track speed skating, and synchronized skating (the latter is a non-Olympic discipline). The sport with the largest number of Olympic disciplines is skiing, with six: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, nordic combined, snowboarding, and freestyle skiing.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. The current president is Sheikh Fahad Al-Sabah. The oldest NOCs are from Japan and the Philippines, recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1911; whereas East Timor is the newest, joining in 2003. The headquarters of the OCA is located at Kuwait City.
After not being able to host the Games in 1944, Cortina d'Ampezzo was selected to organise the 1956 Winter Olympics. At the opening ceremonies the final torch bearer, Guido Caroli, entered the Olympic Stadium on ice skates. As he skated around the stadium his skate caught on a cable and he fell, nearly extinguishing the flame. He was able to recover and light the cauldron. These were the first Winter Games to be televised, and the first Olympics ever broadcast to an international audience, though no television rights were sold until the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The Cortina Games were used to test the feasibility of televising large sporting events. The Soviet Union made its Olympic debut and had an immediate impact, winning more medals than any other nation. Soviet immediate success might be explained by the advent of the state-sponsored "full-time amateur athlete". The USSR entered teams of athletes who were all nominally students, soldiers, or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train full-time. Chiharu Igaya won the first Winter Olympics medal for Japan and the continent of Asia when he placed second in the slalom.
Before 1924, when the first Winter Olympic Games were celebrated, sports held on ice, like figure skating and ice hockey, were held at the Summer Olympics. These two sports made their debuts at the 1908 and the 1920 Summer Olympics, respectively, but were permanently integrated in the Winter Olympics program as of the first edition. The "International Winter Sports Week", later dubbed the I Olympic Winter Games and retroactively recognized as such by the IOC, consisted of nine sports. The number of sports contested at the Winter Olympics has since been decreased to seven, comprising a total of fifteen disciplines.
Although not an official demonstration sport, an international ski-orienteering event was held in Sugadaira Kōgen, Japan, as part of the International Cultural Festival held in conjunction with the XVIII Winter Olympic Games in Nagano in 1998. The International Orienteering Federation petitioned the International Olympic Committee in 2002 to include ski orienteering in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, noting that it could share the venue with the biathlon competitions. In its formal recommendation that ski orienteering not be included in those games, the Olympic Programme Commission focused on a lack of participation in the sport outside Nordic countries, "the challenges for broadcasters and spectators to easily follow the competition", and the costs associated with new technology and a new results system. In 2005, the International Olympic Committee confirmed that ski orienteering was under consideration for inclusion in the review process of the Olympic sport program for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. On 28 November 2006, the Executive Board of the IOC decided not to include any new sports in this review process.
The Asian Karatedo Federation (AKF) is the governing body of sport karate of about 39 countries of karatedo federation in Asia. The AKF is a non-profit organization and performs its activities on an amateur basis in compliance with the principles set forth in the Olympic Charter, duly
recognized by the World Karate Federation, the largest international governing body of sport karate with over 180 member countries. It is the only karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee and has more than fifty million members. The AKF organizes the Asian Karatedo Championships, the Junior and Senior AKF Championships in every two years in between the Olympic and Asian Games and participates in WKF World Karate Championships. The President of the AKF is Kuang-Huei Chang of Chinese Taipei and Bill Mok of Hong Kong, China serves as the Secretary General.
The Asian Karatedo Championships are the highest level of competition for sport karate in Asia. The competition is held in a different country every two years organized by the Asian Karatedo Federation (AKF) under the supervision of World Karate Federation (WKF), the largest international governing body of sport karate with over 180 member countries. It is the only karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee and has more than fifty million members. The AKF organizes the Junior and Senior Asian Karatedo Championships in every two years in between the Olympic and Asian Games and participates in WKF World Karate Championships which its member Japan play as a powerhouse country when it comes to sport karate vying for world titles with counterpart opponents from the powerful nations such as France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain and Italy in many world championships.
The Amateur Sports Act of 1978 enabled the governance of sports in the US by organizations other than the AAU. This act made each sport set up its own National governing body (NGB). Each of these governing bodies would be part of the United States Olympic Committee, but would not be run by the Committee. Thus, The USA Karate Federation was born.
USA National Karate-do Federation is the latest of previous organizations to claim to represent Karate in the United States.USA National Karate-do Federation replaces USA Karate Federation.
In 2009, in the 121st International Olympic Committee voting, karate did not receive the necessary two-thirds majority vote to become an Olympic sport. Karate was being considered for the 2020 Olympics,however at a meeting of the IOC's executive board, held in Russia on May 29, 2013, it was decided that karate (along with wushu and several non-martial arts) would not be considered for inclusion in 2020 at the IOC's 125th session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September 2013.