Ademonstration sport, orexhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during theOlympic Games but may also occur at other sporting events.
Demonstration sports were officially introduced in the1924 Summer Olympics,[1] though some scholars consider unofficial sports prior to 1924 to also be demonstrations.[2] Most organizing committees then decided to include at least one demonstration sport at each edition of the Games, usually some typical or popular sport in the host country, likebaseball at the1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games andtaekwondo at the1988 Seoul Olympic Games. From 1924 to 1992, only two Summer Olympics Games did not have demonstration sports on their program. Some demonstration sports eventually gained enough popularity to become an official sport in a subsequent edition of the Games. Traditionally, the medals awarded for the demonstration events followed the same design as the Olympic medals, but of a smaller size. They are never included in the medal count.
Demonstration sports were suspended after the1992 Summer Olympics, as the Olympic program grew bigger and it became more difficult for the organizing committees to give them the appropriate attention, since theIOC required the same treatment to be dispensed for official and demonstration sports.[3] It is unlikely that they will be reintroduced as arequirement for future Olympic organizing committees. However, the Beijing Olympic Committee received permission from the IOC to run awushu (martial arts) competition parallel to the2008 Beijing Olympic Games,Wushu Tournament Beijing 2008.[4][5][6]
Under the event-based program that began with the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, the host organizing committees added the following optional sports to the program with full medal status:
5 The IOC permitted a parallelwushu competition to be run (2008 Beijing Wushu Tournament), but this was not an official demonstration sport.
6 The IOC permitted a parallelesports competition to be run (known as theeGames), but this was not an official demonstration sport.
7 Though not explicitly listed as a demonstration sport, theJapan Sumo Association originally planned to hold a special two-day exhibitionsumo tournament between the Olympics and Paralympics as part of a larger official Olympics cultural festival; this was cancelled due to rescheduling of the 2020 Olympics to 2021.[9][10][11]
9 On 3 August 2016, the129th IOC Session was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At this conference, the IOC agreed on a new policy to shift the Games to use an "event-based" program rather than a "sport-based" program. Under this new policy, the host organizing committee can propose the addition of sports to the program. Baseball/softball were added back to the program for 2020 only in this way, along with karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding.[13][14]
10 On 24 June 2019, the134th IOC Session was held inLausanne,Switzerland. At this conference, the Paris Organising Committee proposed that surfing, sport climbing, and skateboarding all return, along with the addition ofbreaking. On 7 December 2020, the IOC confirmed all four sports.[15]
1 The CGF endorsed arugby league nines competition (2014 Rugby League Commonwealth Championship) to be held preceding the games, but this was not listed an official demonstration sport.[20]
