The ＂new new human＂ is on! Squash and flag football were selected as new events in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
On October 16th, at the 141st plenary session of the International Olympic Committee held in Mumbai, India, the IOC plenary session decided to adopt five new sports for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games: baseball and softball, cricket, flag football, squash and tennis.
There are three out of five items.
Appeared in Hangzhou Asian Games.
Among the five newly added events, except stick tennis and flag football, the other three events are official events of the Hangzhou Asian Games, and the China team also won the silver medal in the women’s softball event of the Hangzhou Asian Games. At the peak of women’s softball strength, China was the second in the world, and was runner-up in the Olympic Games and World Championships.
Baseball and softball events of Hangzhou Asian Games on October 2nd.
Baseball and softball, cricket and stick tennis were once Olympic events. Among them, baseball and softball entered the Olympic Games from 1992 to 2008 and 2020, cricket appeared in the Olympic Games in 1900, and stick tennis was the event of the two Olympic Games in 1904 and 1908.
Cricket, stick and tennis have a long history.
Cricket is a collective event that consists of techniques such as pitching, hitting and catching, and the main form is pitching and hitting confrontation. Cricket is not only praised as a "game for gentlemen", but also recognized as a "game for wise men". It attaches great importance to the use of eye and hand skills, requiring players not only to be quick-sighted but also to pay attention to strategy and planning.
A beach cricket match was held in the southern port of England to show off people’s skills
At home, cricket is still a "minority sport" that many people feel a little strange. But this sport, which originated in medieval England, is not unpopular in the world, especially in Asia, where India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other countries are world-class cricket powers. Cricket has more than 2 billion global fans, which is the second largest sport in the world after football. Cricket World Cup is one of the most watched sports in the world, and it is the fourth largest event in the world after the Olympic Games, Football World Cup and Rugby World Cup.
Xingyi, Guizhou Province: A young stick tennis player courageously swings the pitch.
In contrast, the popularity of stick tennis in China is not high. Stick tennis, also known as tennis baseball in China, is an ancient sport, which originated from North American Indian tribes. Stick tennis is a collective sport that uses the net pocket at the top of the bat to control the movement of the ball, and uses the lever principle to throw the ball in the net to catch the ball and score a goal, so as to determine the outcome of the game by the final score. Modern times originated in North America. Basketball, ice hockey and other sports all took tennis baseball as a reference during their invention and creation. In this sport, the strength of the United States and Canada is more prominent.
As early as 1904, stick tennis appeared as a gold medal in the Olympic Games, and then gradually faded out of the Olympic stage because of insufficient international participation. This movement was introduced to China as early as the end of 1990s, and gradually developed in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities.
Squash, flag football and other emerging sports.
Be favored by young people
Although squash and flag football have never entered the Olympic Games before. But in the past two years, with the popularity of outdoor sports and the help of new media, it has become a new sport popular among young people after Frisbee, with a huge mass base.
As a branch of American football, flag football has developed rapidly in recent years because it is not so dangerous. According to the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, there are more children playing flag football in the United States than traditional football, and at the competition level, there are about 20 million flag football players in more than 100 countries, and the players’ participation is balanced.
In 2022, the competition of the first City Waist Flag Rugby League (Beijing Station) was fierce.
Compared with the formal rugby, the waist flag rugby replaces the direct contact of the body by pulling the waist flag on the belt, which reduces the collision of the project itself, expands the audience of the sport, and makes teenagers and even girls happy.
Although squash is a minority sport, it has been deeply loved by young people in recent years. Since 1998, squash has been an official event of the Asian Games, but it has been rejected by the Olympic Games. In order to join the Olympic family, the World Squash Federation even moved its headquarters to Lausanne to strengthen its ties with the International Olympic Committee. The Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee said that the sport has achieved amazing growth in the past few years, especially among young Americans, and the participation of squash increased by 87% from 2015 to 2019.
These five events have officially become new events in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. For baseball and cricket, they are an opportunity to return to the Olympic family. For stick tennis, flag football and squash, they have entered the public’s field of vision, attracting more people to be crazy, just like cricket in the Asian Games.
The ancient Olympic movement is opening its arms to the whole world with unprecedented tolerance. As IOC President Bach said, new events make the Olympic Games younger, closer to urban life and more gender-balanced. They have brought new audiences and new communities, and they have created the "new and new humanity" of the Olympics.
(Poster news editor Guo Kai Comprehensive Xinhua News Agency, Tide News, Labor News, Sports Network, etc.)
Produced by New Wave Studio
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