IOC APPROVES BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL FOR TOKYO GAMES|2020東京奧運 棒壘重返正式競賽

Baseball and softball have been officially included in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committees has agreed to add five sports to the 2020 official Olympic sports, including baseball and softball, surfing, and karate. The International Olympic Committee convened for the 129th session in Rio de Janeiro on July 3rd. The IOC passed the proposal in a unanimous vote to officially add a package of 5 sports for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, including baseball and softball, surfing, karate, skateboarding, and sport climbing. In particular, baseball has been included again, 12 years after its elimination after 2008 as an official Olympic sport. The World Baseball Softball Confederation is pleased with the decision. However, because the Olympics schedule will overlap with the MLB schedule, the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee will negotiate with the MLB to work out this issue. ==RICCARDO FRACCARI, President, World Baseball Softball Confederation== I feel that finally the dreams for many athletes can become a reality in Tokyo 2020, so I'm happy for them, and happy for the movement. ==YOSHIRO MORI, President, TOCOG== We still have time before the games. We will do our best to communicate with the MLB, so that we can resolve any issues and put the best players in the Olympic baseball games. Baseball became an official Olympic sport in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and softball was included in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. However, baseball and softball were both eliminated after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Cuba won 3 gold medals for baseball in the Olympics, while the U.S. won 3 gold medals for softball. The IOC stressed that this proposal is monumental in the history of Olympic Games. The IOC President Thomas Bach also believes that these five sports will draw in young audiences for the Olympics. TRANSLATED BY：CHRISTINA LIU 國際奧會IOC，3號在里約熱內盧召開第129次大會，會中以85票對0票一致表決通過提案，包括棒壘球、衝浪、空手道、滑板以及競季攀岩等5項運動，將名列2020的東京奧運正式比賽項目。其中棒球項目，繼2008北京奧運後，睽違12年再度重返奧運，國際棒協感到欣慰，至於跟美國職棒MLB賽期衝突，各國徵召球員的問題，東京奧組委表示，棒球在日本是全民運動，東京奧運棒、壘球重返正式項目，意義非凡，會儘快跟大聯盟展開協調。 ==世界棒壘總會主席 法拉卡利== 我認為很多選手的美夢 就要在2020東京奧運上成真 我為他們感到高興 也為這項提案通過感到開心 ==東京奧組委主席 森喜朗== 在比賽登場前我們還有一些時間 我們會竭盡所能跟美國職棒聯盟溝通 去化解各位的疑慮 讓最頂尖的棒球選手 可以參加奧運棒球賽 這是我的想法 棒球在1992年巴塞隆納奧運，被列為正式比賽項目，壘球則從1996年亞特蘭大奧運列入，但2008北京奧運後，棒、壘球都被剔除。棒球強國古巴拿過3屆金牌，日本及美國各1面。壘球方面，前3屆都由美國摘金，日本拿下末代金牌。IOC強調，這項提案是現代奧運史中，最重要的演進，主席巴赫也認為，這項五項運，不僅能吸引年輕族群，更能增加奧運競技的可看性。 新增這五項運動後，2020東京奧運全部比賽項目，也從以往奧運的28增加到33項，多出474名選手有機會登上奧運殿堂，但這五項競賽，僅限於東京奧運，2024奧運主辦國是否延續，還是未知數。 記者 靳元慶 報導