***BREAKING***100k Ultra for men & women to be included in 2020 Olympics -Tokyo organisers insistent it will happen.

Fantastic news we will finally get the chance to see how great Dean Karnazes is!

50 laps of a 2K course?

20 laps of a 5K course?

2 laps of marathon course + bonus stuff?

Point-to-point

Hiroshima to Nagasaki

I'd prefer they add video games before another did since race, and especially before an ultra.

Aren't video games big in Japan as well?

Bring on the DMR! (And move the 10k to a Cross Country course...)

They should run it on the track. That way everyone can experience the greatness of ultra marathoning.

ddfun wrote:

50 laps of a 2K course?

20 laps of a 5K course?

2 laps of marathon course + bonus stuff?

I'd rather watch grass grow. wrote:

Due to the huge interest in distance running in Japan the Tokyo organisers are insistent a 100km Ultra for men and women will definitely happen. They believe it will add substantial local advertising revenue to help pay for the games.

Apparently they've been trying to keep it quiet as:

"Discussions on the event programme in the existing 28 Olympic sports for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 are ongoing, and will be finalised by the IOC Executive Board in mid-2017."

so other sports don't try to undermine them by applying for events in their sports to be added.

I'd watch it, but NBC will screw up the coverage - that's practically guaranteed.

Bring Back the 880 wrote:

I'd prefer they add video games before another did since race, and especially before an ultra.

Aren't video games big in Japan as well?

That's pachinko, they're addicted to it. It's a simple, boring game which might explain something about the Japanese relaxation preferences and why an Olympic 100k would be so popular.

Complete speculation. Or as they say, FAKE NEWS.

I'd rather watch grass grow. wrote:

Due to the huge interest in distance running in Japan the Tokyo organisers are insistent a 100km Ultra for men and women will definitely happen. They believe it will add substantial local advertising revenue to help pay for the games.

Apparently they've been trying to keep it quiet as:

"Discussions on the event programme in the existing 28 Olympic sports for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 are ongoing, and will be finalised by the IOC Executive Board in mid-2017."

so other sports don't try to undermine them by applying for events in their sports to be added.

Good news. It should be on the trails.

However they need to axe the following pointless sports from the OG:

They need to get rid of the different swimming strokes,

They need to get rid of the different fighting sports and just have a no weight division UFC tournament.

They need to get rid of all weight divisions in any sport, I don't want the Oympics to decide who is the best under whatever weight boxer or weightlifter etc because this is like having a contest to decide who is the fastest slow runner.

They need to get rid of all the different sailing boats, just have one class of sailing for heaven's sake.

They need to get rid of all track cycling because bicycles were designed as means of transportation on the road not for riding on a track. All that kaerin nonsense is a sad joke of a contest.

They need to have just one racket sport. Pick and choose for each Olympics during the opening ceremony.

Restrict jumps to long jump and high jump and take off any way you want using your body power.

Get rid of starting blocks and reset all the world records for sprint races as the race is supposed to be on a flat surface.

All this would be a very good start. It should free up more space for more distance running events which are "truer" sports. Add cross country in as a starter.

HobsJog wrote:

Complete speculation. Or as they say, FAKE NEWS.

Just like this?

This is the sort of thing they're up against in trying to get the Ultra included and why they're doing it in the background in the hope of pulling the rug from under other events like "Obstacle Racing":