From kickboxing to bowling, meet the people campaigning to get new sports into the Olympics

Bloody battles, naked competitors, mass cow slaughter and corporal punishment for false starts? The Olympics we know and marvel at today has changed a fair bit since it was the highlight of the Ancient Greek social calendar, branching out from its original events of javelin throwing, running and jumping to include the likes of curling, synchronised swimming and canoe slalom – and, for the first time ever at Paris 2024, breaking. 

The dance as we know it emerged in the 1970s in the graffitied streets of the Bronx, New York City. At a time when gang tensions had the city on edge, breaking offered a positive outlet – and as the popularity of hip hop music grew, so did the dance. Large-scale events emerged throughout the ’90s, helping to cement breaking as a global art form and sport, before the World DanceSport Federation (of which breaking is a part) was recognised by the International Olympics Committee in 1997. After breaking’s inclusion in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, in 2020 the IOC voted to have it on this year’s Olympic programme.

‘The Olympic committee has decided to go with breaking because it is really dynamic,’ said expert in performance and physical culture Professor Claire Warden in an interview for Loughborough University. ‘It appeals to a lot of people who perhaps wouldn’t be attracted to the Olympics by other things, and it’s a sport-art that’s popular all over the world, so it appeals to a global audience.’

But plenty of other sports, from bowling to types of martial arts, have still been shut out of the tracks, rings and stadiums for another year. What makes a sport Olympic worthy? Meet the people racing ahead to grant their sport a place at the Games.

How do sports actually get into the Olympics?

Over the course of Paris 2024, athletes will have competed in a staggering 329 events across 32 different sports. Twenty-eight of those are ‘core’ sports, which were included in both the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. Four of them are ‘additional’: skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing are returning to the programme after debuting in Tokyo, while breaking is debuting this year in Paris.  

How did they make it over the line? The first step to being included is for the sport to receive recognition from the International Olympic Committee. According to Gordon Mitchell, a Kickboxing GB board member campaigning to get the martial art into the Games, that means ‘being able to show evidence of the sport’s global reach, good governance standards and alignment with Olympic values’. The Olympic Charter recognises these values as being excellence, respect and friendship. 

Once the IOC has recognised a sport, its international federation can apply to be included in the Olympic programme. The sport is judged on various factors: its popularity, participation levels, engagement with younger audiences, capability at organising international competitions and a demonstration of diversity, inclusion, fair play and robust anti-doping measures.

Then, for a sport to be officially included, the IOC executive board presents it to the IOC session for all members of the assembly to vote: if it receives a majority, it’s in the Olympics. That can be a real game changer for a sport, not just because a place on the world’s grandest sporting stage means clout and a bigger audience, but because it can also have practical benefits like more funding for local clubs. The subsequent inclusion in the British Olympic Association would also open doors for athletes to compete in more international competitions such as the European Games – as it stands, sports can only register for these once they’re formally recognised by the IOC. 

Applying for Olympic Games inclusion is essentially like a job interview

When it comes down to it, though, there’s actually very little campaigning that can be done: applying for Olympic Games inclusion is essentially like a job interview. New sports are assessed against ones which are already included. Will a sport attract new spectators and broaden the Games’ exposure? That’s what’s being analysed.  

Time to get the ball rolling

Thanks to its typical association with naff carpets and funky-smelling shoes, Tenpin bowling might just exist as a nostalgic childhood memory for many of us. But across the UK, the sport has a dedicated following, including among Special Olympians.

Special Olympics GB, an organisation which provides training to children and adults with intellectual disabilities (a completely separate body to the Paralympics, which focuses on physical disabilities), has included Tenpin bowling as one of its 27 sports since 1975. ‘It’s very inclusive and social and can accommodate athletes of all abilities,’ says the Special Olympics chair to Time Out. ‘We’re keen to develop even more opportunities for our athletes to experience the sport.’ The body currently has 91 athletes who regularly train and compete across the UK.

One of them is Mikey Lines, who’s 36 and trains in Surrey. He won a silver medal for GB in last year’s Special Olympics World Games in Berlin. ‘I go every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings,’ he says. Lines has autism and says that the sport has massively improved his confidence. ‘Making friends and keeping fit – it’s very good for that. My life is better for it.’

In a typical Friday morning session, Lines will play 18 games of bowling back to back. ‘He ran away from home when he was really little and I had the police out looking for him until the bowling alley phoned and said he was there, because they knew him so well,’ says his mum. ‘Most of the team he plays with go for the social, and while Mikey is there for the bowling, it means barriers come down and it helps him communicate. It’s very inclusive.’

The Seoul 1988 Olympics featured Tenpin bowling as an ‘exhibition’ sport, which means while it was included to promote the game, the medals awarded were not classed as official Olympic wins and didn’t appear on the final tallies. Bowling organisations have been keen to have the sport included officially ever since, but it was rejected from inclusion in Paris 2024 back in 2019 due to organisers’ goal of attracting younger viewers (hence the debut of breakdancing). The tactic seems to be reaping positive results: research found that the inclusion of surfing in Tokyo got more young people interested in the sport, as well as having a knock-on effect of promoting ‘environmental protection’.

Moving the goalposts

Rolling, pinning, throwing, striking, leg-locking an opponent… sounds a bit like judo, right? We’re actually talking about sombo, a wrestling sport which was developed by the Soviet Red Army in the early 1920s to improve soldiers’ hand-to-hand combat skills. It’s also known across the world by its original name, ‘SAMBO’, a Russian acronym of ‘SAMozashchita Bez Oruzhiya’ which means ‘self-defence without weapons’. 

Sombo is a jacketed mixed martial art where two athletes fight each other in a style similar to wrestling, which is more about self-defence than attack. The sombo system was developed by Vasili Oshchepkov who studied at the Kodokan Judo Institute in Tokyo. In 1938, the sport was recognised by the USSR All-Union Sports committee before being introduced to the international arena in the 1950s.

John Clarke, based in Kent, is the president of the British Sombo Federation and son of the founder who set up the organisation back in 1986. He’s also an impressively decorated competitor as the ten-time winner of the British championships. ‘We’ve got around 35 clubs in Great Britain, two of those are in Scotland, one in Wales, one in Northern Ireland,’ Clarke says. He thinks the popularity of the sport would soar if it was given Olympic recognition. ‘Sombo’s growing in strength every year in England, but there are clubs in countries all over the world: Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, then there’s Canadian, American and Hungarian sombo,’ he says.

Coaches across the UK are gunning for its inclusion. Oleg Sibilev, who began sombo as a child to help him stand up to school bullies, is now director at Sambist Fighting Academy in Belvedere. ‘It’s an amazing sport: the most multifunctional martial art, and there are so many techniques to learn, like leg-locking, striking,’ Sibilev says. ‘It’s great for strengthening.’ 

Sombo’s growing in strength every year in England, but there are clubs all over the world

Shining the spotlight on sombo has helped to expose it to new waves of athletes. ‘It helped when Khabib Nurmagomedov won the MMA,’ says Sibilev. ‘He’s from Russia but is also Muslim, and lots of students from the Muslim community began showing interest. An Olympic sport? That’s the number one goal.’

However, due to its historic associations and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, sombo’s inclusion in the Olympics is looking unlikely for now. ‘It’s a massive shame – I’m in my fifties, and I’m quite fearful that [inclusion] may never happen in my lifetime,’ says Clarke. ‘We were hoping we’d be [an additional sport] in the LA 2028 Olympics, but that won’t happen now.’

Sports on the homestretch

While hopes have stacked it for sombo’s inclusion in the Games anytime soon, kickboxing is much more on track. According to Peter Edwards, president of Kickboxing GB and seven-time world champion, it’s due for inclusion in the Brisbane 2032 Olympics. 

The sport’s origins can be traced back to the ancient civilisations of Japan, China and Thailand, when different versions of martial arts emerged separately and used as self-defence and in battles. Modern kickboxing has its roots in 1960s Japan. Like in boxing, kickboxers powerfully thrust punches towards their opponents, but the sport also incorporates karate-like elements: whooshes of kicking, sharp elbow and knee strikes and forcefully jutting your bodyweight into your competitor to topple them. 

Kickboxing GB’s board was hopeful when the sport made the shortlist of nine potential inclusions for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, alongside breaking, karate and motorsport. However, popular American sports including baseball, softball and squash were selected by the IOC and while the board of Kickboxing GB wasn’t told the exact reasoning, Mitchell believes it’s because similar disciplines such as taekwondo, judo, and wrestling are already on the programme. What’s more, US sports will likely sell more tickets given that the majority of in-person spectators will be American. 

But that setback hasn’t dented any excitement about 2032. ‘As a sport we stand proud that having only gained full recognition [as an Olympic Sport by the IOC] in 2022, we were shortlisted so quickly,’ says Mitchell. ‘[Kickboxing] is exciting, dynamic and entertaining. Participation levels continue to grow in the UK, and the size and quality of our other international competitions prove it’s got a strong future.’ But why does kickboxing stand out from other combat sports? ‘Kickboxing instills valuable life lessons,’ says Mitchell. ‘Training teaches self-discipline, perseverance, determination, and respect for themselves and others. In the world of kickboxing, you win or you learn, and there is a lot of learning to get onto that podium with a gold medal.’

I train like an athlete and dance like an artist – I’d like more people to see what we’re doing and take it seriously

Though the sport was shortlisted swiftly after its Olympic recognition, it was a long road to inclusion. ‘The World Association of Kickboxing Organizations came to the UK in 1975 and has essentially been campaigning from there onwards,’ explains Peter. Brisbane 2032 will mark 57 years of campaigning. ‘Inclusion in the Summer Games would take the sport to another level – media exposure could make our athletes household names,’ says Gordon. 

Final whistle

Sports evolve – whether that’s from a martial art originating in ancient dynasties, from military defence training or from the buzzing street corners of ’70s New York. The Olympics mirrors those transformations, which leaves plenty of hope for all of the faces who are still banging on the door for their sports’ inclusion. 

‘The Olympics has never stayed the same,’ said Professor Warden. ‘Time and again, it has shifted and changed, moved with the times and responded to culture to attract new audiences. The addition of breaking is a furtherance of that narrative.’

Team GB’s breaking athletes (B-boys and B-girls, as they’re known) are hopeful that breaking will reach new audiences, too – particularly the younger generation who might not see many athletes from urban backgrounds like theirs competing in other sports. ‘There’s discussion on whether [being in the Olympics] will dilute the culture or sabotage its essence, but it actually just gives the sport a new opportunity,’ said B-boy Sunni to Team GB. 

‘I train like an athlete and dance like an artist,’ says fellow Team GB B-boy, Sheku. ‘I would like more people to see what we’re doing and take it seriously.’ Sheku also teaches children’s breaking classes and says the inclusion in the Games has brought it to another level. ‘When you say ‘‘Olympics’’, you see their eyes light up.’