Olympics considers adding tug of war, American football for 2020

After a 100-year hiatus, tug of war could be an Olympic sport once more.

Organizers of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo released a list of 26 sports on Friday that have applied to be added to the Games and tug of war is one of them.

Last featured in the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, tug of war is one of several non-traditional events proposed including frisbee, snooker, bridge, chess, sumo wrestling, surfing, American football and orienteering.

Could any of these niche sports actually make it into the Games?

Toshiro Muto, chief executive officer of the Tokyo organizing committee says the criteria for inclusion is threefold:

"[The sport] must be popular with young people, give momentum to Tokyo 2020 and meet IOC standards."

And of those three criteria, the importance of popularity among young people was echoed earlier this week by IOC President Thomas Bach.

"We would like to see in the proposals also an event or events which are attractive to youth in particular," Bach said. "It would give Japan the great opportunity to present itself to the world as a youthful nation looking to the future embracing youth and other cultures."

Muto added that sports that do not require new venues will be given preference as organizers are trying to find ways to reduce costs.

Since tug of war doesn't require much more than a rope, some ground and eight burly competitors to a side, maybe it could be favoured by organizers as no real venue is needed.

Whether the sport is popular among youth is questionable.

Baseball and softball

Of all the sports proposed for 2020, baseball and softball are likely choices given the popularity of the sport in Japan. The sports were last included in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and have failed to be put back in the Games despite a few attempts.

"Baseball and softball at the Tokyo 2020 Games can help spread Olympic values with the entire nation of Japan and those around the world," said Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation.

Aside from these, other candidates for the Games include bowling, korfball, polo, racquetball, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, waterski, wakeboard, and wushu.

​Given the high number of choices, we ask: