Equestrian sports fans worldwide can now breathe a sigh of relief

Equestrians and equestrian sports fans worldwide can breathe a sigh of relief as equestrian sports have been confirmed for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games.

The 125^th meeting of the IOC (International Olympic Committee), which began on September 7 in Buenos Aires (Argentina) ended today.

After every Olympics, the IOC’s executive committee examines the main sports for the next Games in order to guarantee they remain relevant to the current sports trends and thus appealing to the public.

For a while, it seemed that equestrian sports were in danger of being removed from the Olympic program, prompting the FEI to launch the “Two Hearts” campaign, which emphasizes on the special bond that exist between horse and rider. However, they have just been officially confirmed!

For the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, here are the 25 main sports that were selected: equestrian, archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, fencing, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, volleyball & weightlifting.

It was decided that wrestling would no longer be included in the list of core sports, but instead be shortlisted along with 7 other sports (baseball, climbing, karate, roller sports, squash, wakeboarding and wushu).

These 8 sports will be making their pitch in front of the IOC’s committee in May 2017 in St Petersburg (Russia), to try and be included as “additional sports” in the Tokyo Olympics. On a side note, golf and rugby were the two additional sports selected for the 2016 Rio Games.

Great job equestrian fans! Way to show the world, and most of all the IOC, how much we love equestrian sports and how important they are.

As for now, let’s all show your support for all the amazing athletes competing in the Paralympics! Para-Equestrian Dressage begins tomorrow (Sunday September 11), and we personally cannot wait!

#TwoHearts

The Seaver team