Olympic Sports

Olympic Sports:

Now keep in mind that the only Olympics we have had (summer) has been Tokyo so all of these sports are based on those games.

Archery

• 2020 update: Adds a Mixed Team medal
• Medals Awarded: 5
  • M&W Individual is competed tournament style
  • Team events are played like the football knockout tournament style
• Team USA: 3 men and 3 women will rep the USA in the individual and team rounds. 1 from each gender will combo to make the mixed team.
• Rules of the Game:
  • In Set system, whoever is first to reach 6 set points, wins
    • Set = 3 arrows
    • An athlete with the highest total points for their 3 arrows, wins the set = 2 set points
      • If the athletes are tied = 1 set point each
      • If tied 5-5, then each athlete shoots 1 arrow with the closets arrow to the middle wins
        • If still tied, alternate shots until a winner is declared
  • Team matches = 6 arrow sets and first to reach 5 set points
  • Mixed team matches = 4 arrow sets and first to reach 5 set points
  • Only a recurve bow is used (not a compound)
  • Scoring: Scores are awarded 1-10 for each arrow.
    • The target has 10 rings with the points going up the closer in towards the center.
    • The middle is used as a tie breaker.

Artistic Swimming (aka synchronized swimming)

• Medals Awarded: 2
  • Team (8 but can be as low as 4 with point deductions) and Duet (2).
  • Women’s only event.
• Team USA: USA has a women’s Duet team competing in Tokyo
• Rules of the Game:
  • Each competition has a technical routine and a free routine. The highest score combined wins.
    • Technical routines are set elements that must be preformed in a certain order.
    • Free routines have 0 requirements.
  • Scoring: Each routine is scored out of 100
    • If you touch the bottom it’s a deduction

Athletics

• 2020 update: 2 new events here. The women’s 52km racewalk and the coed 4x400m relay
• Medals Awarded: 49
  • 24 events for M & W
  • Events with no prelims or semifinals: 10km, 20km walk, 50km walk, Decathlon, Heptathlon and Marathon
• Team USA: 130 athletes will be competing in athletics. 3 in each event except the M&W 20km walk (1 each)
  • This is believed to be one of the most talented USA teams ever brought to an Olympics.
• Rules of the Game
  • See separate Athletics page

Badminton

• Medals Awarded: 5
  • Men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles
• Team USA: The USA only has men’s doubles, men’s singles and women’s singles athletes
• Rules of the Game:
  • • Think of this as a combo of tennis and volleyball. Tennis rules and volleyball scoring.
  • Games are played to 21 points regardless of who served. You must win by 2 until the 29^th point (‘Golden Point’) where next point wins.
  • The serve at the beginning of the game is determined by throwing the shuttlecock up into the air over the net and whichever side it lands on, serves first.
    • Serves must go into the square diagonally across from the server and past the service line (short box in front of the net). Unlike tennis, the front athlete serves.
  • If there is a let (meaning the shuttlecock hits the net and flops to one side) then the point is completely replayed with no change in score.

Baseball/Softball

• 2020 update: Baseball/Softball was in the Olympics in 2008 before being discontinued and will not be in the Olympics in 2024 but back for 2028 in LA.
• Medals Awarded: 2 (1 each)
• Team USA: has qualified a team in both Baseball and Softball
• Rules of the Game:
  • Baseball: Similar to the World Cup, teams will play in a 3-team Group Stage round robin then a double elimination bracket.
    • • There are only 6 teams playing and all will advance into the tournament style games. However whoever advances out of group play in last will play an elimination game and whoever loses is out (even though its technically only 1 loss)
    • Typical 9 inning format
  • Softball:
    • One 6-team Group Stage then top 2 teams go to the Gold medal match and the 3^rd and 4^th place teams go to the Bronze medal match
    • Typical 7 inning format
      • There are mercy rules which means the game ends early if a team does one of he following to their opponent:
        • 15+ after the 5rd inning
        • 10+ after the 4th inning
        • 7+ after the 5th or 6th inning
      • When the score is tied, the game continues into extra innings
        • in those extra innings, a runner is automatically placed in scoring position (2nd base)
      • There are also 2 bags at 1st and home base so as to avoid collisions
    • Normal rules like baseball but pitches are thrown underhand

Basketball

• Medals Awarded: 4
  • Normal
  • 2020 update: 3×3
• Team USA has a men’s and women’s regular team but only a women’s 3×3 team
• Rules of the Game:
  • Regular:
    • For Rules of the Game for basketball, please see that page.
    • The Olympic play will be Group Stage with the best 2 teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Knockout play will commence after that.
      • Teams will be evaluated on points, head-to-head points, points difference, points scored in head-to-head
  • 3×3:
    • This will be played by teams of 4 players on a half court with only one basket.
      • Shots inside the arc = 1 point, shots outside are worth 2.
    • The Olympic play will be Group Stage with the best 2 teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Teams 3-6 will have a playoff. Knockout play will commence after that.
• Players you may know:
  • M: Bradley Beal (runner up for leading point scorer this NBA season), Devin Booker (Suns co-leading scorer), KD, Draymond Green, Damian Lillard & Kevin Love
    • KD, Kevin Love & Draymond Green are the only returning Olympians
  • W: Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart & Brittany Griner
    • Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi have been on the Olympic team since Athens 2004.
    • The only 2 new Olympians are Jewell Loyd and A’ja Wilson

Boxing

• 2020 update: 8 men’s weight classes and 5 women’s (M decrease from 10 & W increase from 3)
• Medals Awarded: 13
  • Men’s: Flyweight 52kg, Featherweight 57kg, Lightweight 63kg, Welterweight 69kg, Middleweight 75kg, Light Heavyweight 81kg, Heavyweight 91kg, Super Heavyweight 91kg+
  • Women’s: Flyweight 51kg, Featherweight 57kg, Lightweight 60kg, Welterweight 69kg, Middleweight 75kg
• Team USA has 5 men and 4 women competing
• Rules of the Game:
  • The athlete who lands the most blows to the head and torso wins
  • 3 rounds of 3 minutes
    • Whoever gets the highest score from the 5 judges wins
    • A ref will also be there and can call the match if the athletes should not continue called ‘RSC’
    • If a fighter cannot resume the fight within 10 seconds, the fight is over (‘KO’)

Canoeing

• 2020 Update: (3 W events added and 3 M events dropped)
• Medals Awarded: 16
  • Slalom
    • M/W C-1
    • M/W K-1
  • Sprint
    • W C-1 200m, M C-1 1000m, W C-2 500m, M C-2 1000m,
    • M/W K-1 200m, W K-1 500m, M K-1 1000m, W K-2 500m, M K-2 1000m, M/W K-4 500m
• Team USA only has M C-1 & K-1 and 1 W competing in both the C-1 & K-1 and another in the W C-1 200m
• Rules of the Game:
  • The C stands for Canoe and the K stands for Kayak while the number stands for how many people are in the vessel
  • Slalom:
    • Athletes navigate their vessel through a white-water course and must pass through certain gates
      • Course is 250m long with 25 gates
      • Each round should last 95 seconds
  • Sprint:
    • Athletes compete on a flatwater course and race other boats
      • Kayakers are seated with double-bladed paddles and there is a rudder for steering
      • Canoers are kneeling with single-bladed paddles and steer with their paddles

Cycling

• Medals Awarded: 22
  • Road: M/W Road Race, M/W Time Trial
  • Track: M/W Sprint, M/W Team Sprint, M/W Keirin, M/W Team Pursuit, M/W Madison, M/W Omnium
    • 2020 update: Madison Cycling has been added back to the Olympic agenda since 2008.
  • BMX: M/W BMW Racing, M/W BMW Freestyle
    • 2020 update: BMX Park, which is seen at the XGames, will make its Olympic debut. This will look like an empty swimming pool and bikers will have 3 timed runs to put together their best routine for the judges.
  • M/W Mountain Cross Country
• Team USA has 6 riders (2M & 4W) in the Road Race, 2 each in time trials, 1 W Sprint, 1 Team pursuit, 1 W Keirin (same woman as the sprint), 1 M/W Omnium, 2 M/W Madison, 1 M CC, 3 W CC, 2 M BMX race, 3 W BMX race, 2 M/W BMX freestyle
• Rules of the Game:
  • Road Race – Like the Tour de France, fastest rider to cross the finish line wins
  • Time Trial – Exactly like it sounds, a race against the clock, lowest time wins
  • Sprint – Of a race of 750m, only the final 200m is timed
    • First part of the race is super tactical and the riders may come to a complete stop to force their opponent to take the lead
    • Time trail rounds to determine who advances to the match rounds (24 riders), winner of each round advances, the loser goes to the repechage round. 4 winners from repechage advance.
      • This format continues until the quarterfinals when there stops being repechages
  • Team Sprint – Each team has 3 riders that race for 3 laps (M), women race 2
    • Teams ride together for 1^st lap with 1 rider in the lead then the lead rider peels off and the remaining riders continue
    • Clock stops when final rider crosses the finish line
  • Keirin – Kinda like NASCAR, Riders ride behind a pace bike for half the race (3 laps) then go ham for the final 3 laps
    • Top 2 cyclists from each heat advance, remaining riders compete in last chance race (called Repechage) where the top 2 advance as well. In the 2^nd round, top 4 advance, then top 3 advance to Final A and the next 3 advance to Final B. Medals positions are only taken from Final A
    • Bikes have no brakes
  • Team Pursuit – teams start on opposite ends of the track and try to catch one another
    • 2 teams of 4 people race for 16 laps
    • You win by either catching the other team or finish the 16 laps in the shortest time
    • Time is determined by the front wheel of the 3^rd rider
  • Madison – Riders take turns racing with their partner for 200 laps
    • Team who completes the laps first, wins
      • 16 teams competing at once
      • Points can be made by lapping teams (20 points) or winning the sprint laps (every 10^th lap) for 5 points, 2^nd is 3, 3^rd is 2, 4^th is 1
        • Points are doubled for the final sprint of the race
      • Racers can ride as long as they want and rest as often as they want
        • Replacement rider has to be touched to be considered in
      • Men race 50km while the W race 30km
  • Omnium – the Decathlon of cycling
    • 4 events in one day: Scratch race (first to cross the finish line wins), Temp race (highest points wins and you get points by leading laps), Elimination race (every 2 laps, riders are eliminated until 1 is left), & Points race (points given to winning sprint parts of this race)
    • Person who has the highest point total after all 4, wins!
  • BMX Race – looks like motocross racing but on a bike
    • 400m course of jumps and banked turns
    • Tournament style races with each round consisting of 3 races
      • Least points wins the round and 4 advance
        • 1 point for W, 2 for 2^nd etc
      • Finals will only be 1 race
  • BMX Freestyle – this looks like the XGames
    • 2 rounds: seeding round and final
      • Each round will have 2 runs
      • Runs are 60 seconds
    • 5 judges score between 0-99.99 based on difficulty and execution
      • Scores are averaged between 2 runs in seeding round
      • Scores from seeding round determining starting position of riders
    • Final round only takes the best score from the 2 runs
  • Cross Country – mountain biking
    • Mass start and multiple lap race on 4.1km mountain course
      • Riders with times 80% slower than the leader’s first lap are eliminated
    • First person to cross the finish line wins

Diving

• Medals Awarded: 8
  • M/W 3M Springboard, M/W 10M Platform, M/W 3M Springboard Synchronized & M/W 10M Platform Synchronized
• Team USA: The US has 2 divers in each event except the Men’s 10M Synchro (0).
• Rules of the Game:
  • Dives are scored out of 10 but throw out the top 2 and bottom 2 scores each round. Each dive has a difficulty score as well. Scores for each round is the 3 middle scores added together x the difficulty score.
    • There are 6 rounds of dives. Scores are cumulative.
  • There are only finals for the Synchronized events

Equestrian

• Medals Awarded: 6
  • 3 disciplines with an Individual and Team medal in each
    • Dressage – very specific tests for the horses to complete – this will look like the horse prancing around an arena
    • Eventing – combo of dressage, cross country & jumping round all on the same horse
    • Jumping – a set course with 12-14 obstacles for the horses to jump over
• Team USA: Full teams of 3 athletes in each of the 3 disciplines. No one athlete competes in more than 1 discipline.
  • Bruce Springsteen’s daughter is on Team USA
• Rules of the Game
  • Dressage:
    • Tests are scored 0-10 with 6s being a decent score – scores are turned into a percentage to 3 decimal points
      • 7 judges
    • Top 8 teams after heats will advance to the final (called the Grand Prix Special)
      • Top 2 individual athletes from each heat and the next best 6 ranked athletes will advance to individual final
    • Elements tested on:
      • Piaffe – trot in place
      • Passage – Trot with elevated stride and pause at the top of stride
      • Extended Gaits – Lengthened strides to max stretch
      • Collected Gaits – shortened stride
      • Flying Changes – changes lead leg every stride (1-4 strides)
      • Pirouette – 360 turn in place
      • Half-pass – travels diagonally
  • Eventing:
    • Each athlete will ride the same horse for a round of dressage, cross country and jumping
      • Cross Country is a long outdoor course of 12-20 lower level fences or 30-40 higher levels. Lowest penalty points scored wins. There is a time limit that the riders need to make without getting a penalty
    • Top 25 Individuals after the 3 rounds will do another jumping round to determine final places
    • Teams with eliminated athletes will get 100 penalty points
    • Lower Scores are better!
      • Dressage scores are calculated by points achieved / possible points, multiplied by 100 then subtracting 100
      • Lower penalty points from CC & jumping round
  • Jumping:
    • Individual qualifying round on the first day with the top 30 to advance to the final
      • Athletes with the lowest penalty points advance with ties being broken by their time to complete the course
    • Teams of 3 with cumulative least amount of penalty points wins
      • Top 20 teams advance to final
      • Teams with all 3 athletes competing still at the end of the team qualifying round will be placed above those who only had 2 compete
        • Athletes can get eliminated or retire or WD

Fencing

• 2020 update: all 6 events will be contested (Epee, foil and saber for both men and women) – it used to be that the type of sword changed every Olympic cycle
• Medals Awarded: 12
  • M/W Epee
  • M/W Team Epee
  • M/W Foil
  • M/W Team Foil
  • M/W Sabre
  • M/W Team Sabre
• Team USA has 3 fencers in each of the 3 types along with full teams of 4. None of the athletes do more than 1 sword type
• Rules of the Game:
  • All swords are equipped with electrical scoring mechanisms which light up red or green to indicate which fencer scored the point
  • Foil
    • 3 Periods of 3 minutes
    • Winner is first to 15 points or who has the most points at the end of the time limit
    • Target area is the torso and back
      • A white light will indicate an invalid touch
  • Epee
    • 3 Periods of 3 minutes
    • Winner is first to 15 points or who has the most points at the end of the time limit
    • Target is the entire body
  • Sabre
    • 2 Periods with a break when the first fencer hits 8 points
    • Target is the torso, head and arms
    • Hits can count with the cutting edge, flat or back of the blade
  • Team
    • Each team member competes another team member in a round robin to a max of 5 points
    • Winner is declared if team reaches 45 points or time runs out
    • evaluated on points, matches won, goal difference, goals for, head-to-head result, field goals scored

Football (aka soccer)

• Medals Awarded: 2
• Team USA: Only the women’s team qualified for Tokyo
• Rules of the Game:
  • There will be Group Stage then a Knockout Stage.
    • M: The top 2 teams from the Group Stage advance to Knockout play.
    • W: The top 2 teams from Group Stage and 2 3^rd place teams
  • Highest score at the end of 90 minutes wins
    • Normal soccer rules apply

Golf

• Medals Awarded: 2
• Team USA: 4 each M/W which is the maximum
• Rules of the Game: Lowest score at the end of 96 holes, wins
  • • Normal golf rules apply, please see page for details
• Players you may know:
  • Bryson DeChambeau – his name has been in the news a lot lately with dissing his driver, his feud with Brooks Koepka and
  • Collin Morikawa – he just won the Open Championship less than a week ago
  • Justin Thomas

Gymnastics

• Medals Awarded: 18
  • Artistic (normal)
    • Women’s: Vault, Uneven Bars, Floor, Balance Beam, All-Around, Team All-Around
    • Men’s: Vault, Floor, Pommel horse, Parallel bars, Horizontal bar, Rings, All-Around, Team All-Around
  • Rhythmic – W only
    • Individual All-Around
    • Group All-Around
  • M/W Trampoline
• Team USA: Artistic: M team has 4 members and 1 additional competing in an individual event, W team has 4 members and 2 additional competing in an individual events. Rhythmic: 2 W individual, 1 Team, 1 M/W Trampoline
• Rules of the Game:
  • Artistic:
    • Execution score is out of 10
    • Difficulty score can be endless but is considered high if it’s a 6 or above
      • The more elements you have in a row, the higher the difficulty.
    • Shapes by a gymnasts score:
      • Green arrow – means good routine for them
      • Yellow rectangle – mediocre / average
      • Red triangle – bad with plenty of deductions
  • Rhythmic:
    • All-Around is comprised of the hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope
      • FIG determines which 4 will be competed in competition (since 2011, the rope has been nullified)
    • Sum of difficulty score and execution score
      • Penalties are deducted from final score
      • Similar to Artisitc gym
  • Trampoline
    • Routine of acrobatic elements preformed on a trampoline
    • Total score is combo of degree of difficulty + time of flight (maintaining height during routine) – deductions of execution
      • Execution scored out of 10 by 5 judges
        • Highest and lowest scores are thrown out

Handball

• Medals Awarded: 2
• Team USA no entry M/W
• Rules of the Game:
  • There will be Group Stage then a Knockout Stage.
    • Top 4 teams from the Group stage will advance to the Quarterfinals
      • Teams will be evaluated on points, head-to-head points, head-to-head goal difference, head-to-head goals scored, goal difference, goals scored and draws
  • Highest score at the end of 60 minutes wins
    • 2 halves of 30 minutes
    • 2 teams of 7 players each use their hands to throw the ball into a goal on each end
    • Courts are 131 ft x 66 ft with a 20 ft goal zone (called the Crease) defended by a goalkeeper
      • A players cannot throw the ball inside the crease but can dive into it to score
      • The ball cannot be passed back to your goalkeeper
  • Players can dribble the ball or take up to 3 steps within 3 seconds without dribbling and cannot use their feet
    • Scores are usually in the 20s or 30s so this is a high scoring, exciting game

Hockey (aka Field Hockey)

• Medals Awarded: 2
• Team USA: no entry M/W
• Rules of the Game:
  • Group Play followed by Knockout Stage
    • Top 4 from each Group move on

Judo

• 2020 update: New mixed team event comprised of 3 men and 3 women one from each weight class
• Medals Awarded: 15
• Team USA: M 90kg, W 52kg, W 78kg, W78kg+
• Rules of the Game:
  • Ippon: given to the athlete who places opponent on their back with impetus and control
    • Think of this as a KO bc after an ippon is scored, the match is over
  • Waza-ari: opponent thrown onto back but with less force than ippon
    • Think of this as a half point
  • If a pin (called osaekomi) is established and it lasts 10 seconds, a Waza-ari is awarded. 20 seconds = Ippon
  • If an athlete finds himself in a chokehold or joint lock and wants to give up, they say ‘Maitta’ and the bout ends
  • Penalties can also be awared if the judges deem it necessary normally for a move that is not in the spirit of Judo
  • If scores are tied at the end of bout, we got to sudden death (called ‘Golden Score’) which means next score wins
  • There are 68 throwing techniques and 32 grappling techniques for athletes to use

Karate *NEW

• Medals Awarded: 8
  • Sparring (Kumite) and Forms (Kata)
    • Sparring is broken down by class 3 for M and W each
    • Form is 1 event
• Team USA: M 75kg, M 75kg+, M kata, W kata
  • No women in the sparring events this olympics
• Rules of the Game:
  • Kumite:
    • 2 competitors face each other on mat
    • Match is 3 minutes unless athlete scores 8 more points than opponent before the time runs out
      • In a tie, athlete who scored the first point, wins!
      • If no points are scored, judges determine a winner
      • Points vary in amount of 3, 2, 1.
      • 4 penalties = DQ
  • Kata:
    • 7 judges score an athlete 5-10 in 0.2 increments
      • 2 highest and 2 lowest are thrown out
      • Remaining scores are added together for final score
    • 70% technical points and 30% athletic points
      • 7 criteria for evaluation: stances, techniques, transitional movements, timing, correct breathing, focus and conformance
      • 3 criteria for athletic movements: strength, speed and balance

Modern Pentathlon

• Medals Awarded: 2
• Team USA: 1M/W
• Rules of the Game:
  • Combo of pistol shooting, epee fencing (see above), 200m Freestyle Swimming, Show Jumping and 3.2km run
    • Fencing, show jumping and swimming are on a points system which then turn into a time handicap going into the shooting/running event
      • The leader will get a head start with the other competitors delayed
    • Fencing event will be 2 rounds: 1 touch bout round robin and a bonus round in a knock-out ladder system
    • Swim is based on time
    • Show jumping involves riding a random horse over a course of 12 jumps with penalties for bars knocked off, refusals, fails or time limit overage
  • The athletes will shoot 4xs after each they will run an 800m
    • Runners can move on after they shoot 5 targets, loading between each shot
      • If all 5 have not been hit in 70 seconds, the runner can move onto the next leg

Rowing

• 2020 update: M lightweight 4 dropped and W four added
• Medals Awarded: 14
  • Sculls: Single Sculls, Double Sculls, Lightweight Double Sculls, Quadruple Sculls
  • Sweep: Coxless Pairs, Coxless Four and Eights
    • Sculling is using 2 oars while sweep rowing is using 1
  • Team USA: 1M 4Team, 1M 8Team, W 1 Single Sculls, W 1 Pair, W 1 Double Sculls, W 1 Lightweight Double Sculls, W 1 4Team, W 1 Quad Sculls, W 1 8Team
• Rules of the Game:
  • First boat to cross the finish line first wins
    • Course is 2335m long
  • The different classifications are self explanatory (number wise)
  • Lightweight is where restrictions are placed on the body weight of the athletes
    • No one over 160 lbs (M) or 130lbs (W)
• Vocab to know:
  • Bow Side: Rower’s left-hand side
  • Bow: Front of boat
  • Coxswain: (aka Cox) the person who steers the boat and coordinating the rhythm of the rowers. They do not row and face towards the rowers
    • Only seen in the 8 Team event
  • Port: Left
  • Starboard: Right
  • Stern: Back of boat
  • Stroke Side: Rower’s right hand side

Rugby Sevens

• Medals Awarded: 2
• Team USA: M/W team
• Rules of the Game:
  • Group play then tournament style
    • Top 2 teams from Group advance
    • The next best 2 teams by points from the group rounds might advance as well
      • Teams will be evaluated on points, head-to-head result, points difference, points scored
    • 7 players on each team play a normal game of rugby on the same size field (100m long and 70m wide)
      • Games have 7 minute halves
    • Some general rules are:
      • Players can only advance the ball by kicking or running with the ball (cannot advance by deflection either)
      • Can only pass ball sideways or backwards
      • If an athlete gets tackled, they must let go of the ball
  • Scoring:
    • Try – run with ball into goal area. Must place ball on ground = 5 points
    • Conversion – (basically an extra point in football) can add points after Try if a player can kick the ball through the goal posts = 2 points
      • However not like football, the ball must bound on the ground first before kicking it
    • Penalty – if your opponent commits a foul, you can attempt a kick through the goal posts from where the penalty occurred. If it goes in = 3 points
    • Drop Goal – kick ball through posts during play but must hit ground first = 3 points
  • OT is 5 additional sudden death minutes

Sailing

• Medals Awarded: 10
  • Events: M/W RS:X, M Laser, W Laser Radial, M Finn, M/W 470, M 49er, W 49erFX, Mixed Narca17
• Team USA:
  • Men: 1 RS:X, 1 Laser, 1 Finn, 1 470 pair
  • Women: 1 RS:X, 1 Laser Radial, 1 49erFX pair, 1 470 pair
  • Mixed: 1 Narca 17 pair
• Rules of the Game:
  • The difference events are different classes of boat but they all compete the same way
  • Each event has series of races where the winner gets 1 point, 2^nd gets 2, etc. Crew/person with lowest point total wins.
    • Points are doubled in the final race (medal race)
  • Courses are triangle shaped and the athletes must pass marker buoys in a certain order and number of times
• Different Vessels
  • RS:X – windsurfing board
  • 49er – 2 person skiff
    • The only difference between the X and standard is the scaled down rig to accommodate lighter athletes (females)
  • Laser Radial is a single person dinghy
    • Only diff between Radial and Standard is the Radial has a shorter mast and reduced sail
  • Finn – 1 person cat-rigged (single mast, single sail at front of the boat) sailboat for men
    • Oldest version of boat competed
  • 470 (called 4 seventy) – double handed monohull dinghy – lightest boat that requires less strength than others
  • Narca 17 – multihull catamaran with 2 person crew

Shooting

• 2020 update: New mixed team event with 1 M and 1 W competing in air pistol, air rifle and trap
• Medals Awarded: 15
  • Events: M/W 50m Rifle Three Positions, M/W/Mixed 10m air rifle, W 25m pistol, M 25m rapid fire pistol, M/W/Mixed 10m air pistol, M/W/Mixed Trap, M/W/Mixed Skeet
• Team USA: M 2 in each event (10m air rifle, 50m rifle 3 positions, 10m air pistol, 25m rapid fire pistol, trap & skeet). W 2 in each (10m air rifle, 50m rifle 3 positions, 25m pistol, trap & skeet).
• Rules of the Game:
  • Compete against each other in elimination rounds which continues until only 2 shooters left
  • Once athletes advance to the finals, scores start from scratch
  • Standstill target events judged on how close to the cneter circle a shooter can get
    • 3 positions are kneeling, prone and standing
      • 40 shots taken
      • 8 shooters will advance to final
  • Rapid Fire events require shots to be fired over short periods of 8, 6 or 4 seconds
  • 25m Pistol is aimed with one hand at a target while standing
    • 60 shots fired involving precision and rapid shooting
  • Shotgun events are shot at moving targets
    • Trap is from a single ‘trap’ (where the clay targets shot out of) & can take 2 shots at a target
    • Skeet is from 2 traps, one on each side, for a total of 25 targets being released and only one shot per target can be taken

Skateboarding *NEW

• Medals Awarded: 4
  • Park – similar to BMX park
  • Street – course of ramps and rails with each boarder getting 3 timed runs
• Team USA: 3 M/W in each of street & park

• Rules of the Game:
  • Both:
    • Judges award a score based on degree of difficulty, height, speed, originality, execution and composition
  • Street:
    • Looks like what you’d find on the street type setting
    • Competition includes stairs, handrails, curbs, benches, walls and slopes
    • Each skateboarder preforms individually and can chose what part of the course they want to use
  • Park:
    • Looks more like a hallowed out pool type setting
    • Tricks are performed on the curves, inclines and almost vertical sides of the bowl like course
    • Tricks include: grinds, stalls (balancing), slides along with jumps using the momentum from going up the sides of the course
      • Degree of difficulty goes up as deck rotates, flips or athlete can move their body mid-air, etc
• Vocab to know:
  • Goofy Foot – right legs faces direction they want to go
  • Grind – when using the wheels and bearings of the board to slide along on a surface
  • Main stance – usual stance
  • Ollie – board and rider jump into the air without use of hands
  • Regular Stance – left foot faces direction skateboarder wants to go
  • Slide – when using wooden deck of board to slide along a surface
  • Switch Stance – when the boarder changes position of their front leg during competition

Sport Climbing *NEW*

• Medals Awarded: 2
  • M/W Combined
• Team USA: 2 M/W each
• Rules of the Game: Combined features all 3 disciplines
  • Final rank is determined by multiplying their place in each event = lowest score wins
  • Speed Climbing – 2 climbers race up an identical 15m wall
    • False Start = instant DQ
    • Normal Men’s time is 5-6 seconds while the Women’s is 7-8 seconds
      • M WR: 5.63 seconds
      • W WR: 6.96 seconds
    • Climbers are secured on a rope
  • Bouldering – course that climbers have to navigate in a fixed time
    • Athletes climb as many routes/problems as possible in 4 minutes on a 4.5m wall
    • Both hands must hold the final hold for it to count
    • No safety rope
    • Can try the wall again if they fall
  • Lead Climbing – climbers get as high as they can up a 15m wall in 6 minutes
    • This climb is done with safety ropes and athletes must attach a quickdraw to the top spot to complete the climb
      • If athletes reach the same place, then time is used as the tiebreaker
    • Athletes will only see the wall minutes before they start and will not see any other competitors’ runs

Surfing *NEW*

• Medals Awarded: 2
• Team USA: 2 M/W each in shortboard
• Rules of the Game:
  • Beginning rounds: 4-5 athletes will compete per heat (20-25 min) and judges will score them on their skill riding the waves
    • Heat is 30 minutes long with each athlete allowed to ride max 25 waves
      • 2 highest scoring waves count
    • Main rounds will only have 2 surfers
  • 5 judges will give their scores for each rider
    • Criteria: degree of difficulty, innovative & progressive maneuvers, combo of maneuvers, variety, speed, power and flow
  • Maneuvers do not have a set score but are all dependent on the overall application
  • Maneuvers include cutbacks, off the lips, floaters, aerials, slides, reverses and the barrel (where the rider disappears into the hollow part of the wave)

Swimming

• 2020 update: New events: M 800m Free, W 1500 Free and Coed 4x100m medley relay
• Medals Awarded: 37
• Team USA: 53 Men & Women
  • 2 in every event except M 10km Open Water and relays (duh)
• Events:
  • Freestyle M/W 50m, M/W 100m, M/W 200m, M/W 400m, M/W 800m, M/W 1500m
  • Backstroke M/W 100m, M/W 200m
  • Breaststroke M/W 100m, M/W 200m
  • Butterfly M/W 100m, M/W 200m
  • Individual Medley (IM): M/W 200m, M/W 400m
  • Relays: M/W 4x100m free, M/W 4x200m free, M/W/Mixed 4x100m IM,
  • Open-water: M/W 10km
• Rules: First swimmer to touch the wall, wins.
  • The pool is 50m long so each 100m is down and back

Table Tennis

• 2020 update: Mixed Doubles is added
• Medals Awarded: 5
  • M/W singles, Mixed Doubles & M/W Teams
• Team USA: 2 M/W singles & 1 M/W teams – no Mixed Double
  • US currently has no Olympic medal in table tennis at the Olympics…ever
• Rules of the Game:
  • Normal Ping Pong rules
    • Ball must bounce once before an athlete can return it
    • If an athlete fails to return the ball, it is a point for the other team
    • Serves must bounce on the serves side before they can serve it over the net
      • If ball hits net, it is considered a let and therefore not scored
      • Serves alternate between opponents every 2 points
        • In doubles, it alternates every point
    • Games are played to 11
      • If both players are at 10, you must win by 2.
      • Match consists of 5-7 games
  • Tables are 9ft x 5ft
  • There will be a prelim round before tournament style

Taekwondo

• Medals Awarded: 8
  • Men’s: -58kg, -68kg, -80kg, +80kg
  • Women’s: -49kg, -57kg, -67kg, +68kg
• Team USA: W 57kg & W 67kg

• Rules of the Game:
  • Athletes will wear a head protector, chest protector (‘hogu’), shin pads, foot socks, forearm guards, hand gloves, mouth piece and groin cup
  • Olympic Taekwondo is competed in Olympic sparring which means the clock continues to run and all strikes are full contact
    • Not in the games: Point sparring is light contact and clock stops after each point
  • 2 rounds of 3 minutes with 1 minute rest between rounds
    • Whoever scores most points wins
    • If there is a tie, there will be another round but first athlete to score a point wins (‘Golden Point’)
  • Points are given by landing kicks, punches with a closed fist or pushes to legal scoring areas
    • An electronic system will be used to determine how hard the strike landed and location of the contact
  • Points:
    • Punch on the Hogu = 1 point
      • Punch must have arm extended
      • No punches to the head
    • Regular kick to hogu = 2 points
    • Regular kick to head = 3 points
    • Technical kick (spinning or turning involved) to hogu = 4 points
    • Technical kick to head = 5 points
    • Penalties are also given for hitting areas not recognized as a target = 1 point to opponent
      • If an athlete gets 10 = they automatically lose
    • Area is 8m octagon where the 2 combatants meet

Tennis

• Medals Awarded: 5
  • M/W Singles, M/W Doubles & Mixed Doubles
• Team USA: 4 Men & 4 Women in singles & 2 Doubles teams for each
  • I don’t think most of us who don’t follow tennis religiously would recognize any of the names except Coco Gauff on the women’s side
• Rules of the Game:
  • Single elimination tournament style
  • Normal Tennis rules (which I will eventually do a post on)
• General Tennis rules:
  • The ball must land inside the white lines to be considered in
    • If ball is on the white line, it is IN
  • Scoring: 1^st point takes a player to 15, then 30, then 40, then they win the set.
    • You must win by 2. That’s when you see ADV by a players name – it means they are at 40 and won the last point, if they win the next one, the set is theirs.
  • Serves must go in the box diagonal from the server
    • The server gets 2 serves to get the ball in that box before it’s a point for the other person

Triathlon

• Medals Awarded: 3
  • M/W/Mixed
• Team USA: 2 men & 3 Women in individual & 1 Mixed relay
• Rules of the Game:
  • 1 race of 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
  • Mixed team event will consist of each athlete performing a triathlon of 300m swim, 8km bike and 2km run in relay format

Volleyball

• Medals Awarded: 4
  • M/W Beach
  • M/W Court
• Team USA: 1 M/W indoor teams & 2 M/W Beach teams each
• Rules of the Game:
  • Both:
    • Serve must go over the net to start the game
    • The team who lets the ball touch the ground in bounds on their side of the court, gives a point to the other team
    • The ball can be touched 3xs on your side of the net
      • Typically a bump, set & spike
      • A player cannot touch the ball 2xs in a row
  • Court: Group play followed by tournament style. Top 4 teams from Group play advance. Tournament is knockout style
    • 6 players on the court at a time
      • 3 at the net and 3 on the back line
    • Scoring:
      • Best of 5 sets
      • Sets are a played to 25 points
        • Team must win by 2
      • If the 5^th set is played, that set only goes to 15
  • Beach: Group play followed by tournament style. Top 2 teams from Group play advance. The top 2 3^rd place teams will also move onto the next round and the rest of the teams will play for the final 2 spots (aka ‘lucky loser’ round). Tournament is knockout style.
    • 2 players on the sand at a time
    • When the score = a multiple of 7, the teams switch sides since sun and wind can effect the play of the game (unlike court)
    • Scoring:
      • Best of 3 sets
      • Sets are played to 21 points
        • Team must win by 2
      • If 3^rd set is played, that set only goes to 15
• Players you might recognize:
  • Phil Dalhausser & Jake Gibb (they both have been in every games since 2008)
  • April Ross (who prev played with Kerri Walsh Jennings)

Water Polo

• Medals Awarded: 2
  • US W team has won a medal in every Olympics of its competition (since 2000)
• Team USA: M/W Team
• Rules of the Game:
  • Group play followed by tournament style. Top 4 teams from Group play advance.
  • 4 quarters of 8 minutes with 7 players on each team
    • Typical formation: Centre back, Centre forward, 2 drivers and 2 wingers & a goal keeper
  • Object of the game is to score the most points by the end of regulation
  • Play starts with the ball in the middle of the pitch and players, starting from their goal line, have a swim-off to get possession first
  • Players may only use one hand when handling the ball
    • Except goalkeeper – they can use 2
  • Players can throw the ball to a teammate, attack or swim while pushing the ball in front of them
  • No player can touch the bottom of the pool
  • Must shoot for the goal within 30 seconds of attacking
    • If not done, that team loses possession
  • Penalties are given
    • Ordinary – team loses possession
    • Personal – penalty shot or 20 seconds in exclusion zone and your team is down a person for those 20 seconds
    • You can foul out just like in basketball
      • You only get 3 major penalties before you’re out of the game
  • Subs are rolling

Weightlifting

• Medals Awarded: 14
  • M: 61 kg, 67kg, 76kg, 81kg, 96kg, 109kg, 109kg+
  • W: 49kg, 55kg, 59kg, 64kg, 76kg, 87kg, 87kg+
• Team USA: 4 M (73kg, 81kg, 109kg, 109kg+) & 4 W (49kg, 76kg, 87kg, 87kg+)
• Rules of the Game:
  • Lift more than anyone else!
  • Athletes compete in the snatch and clean & jerk 3xs each with the highest total winning the competition
    • Snatch = bar is lifted from the ground to over the head with arms straight (looks like a Y overhead) in 1 movement
    • Clean & Jerk = bar is brought up to the chest (wrists bent back for support) and then jerked over head in 2 separate motions
  • If there are multiple athletes with the same total, then the winner is the one who reached that weight first (total time)
  • Lifters must attempt within 1 minute of name being called
    • If they are doing 2 consecutive lifts, that changes to 2 minutes
  • A signal will be given when the lifter can drop the bar, otherwise it will be considered a fail
  • A lifter cannot touch the platform with any other part of the body but the soles of their feet or it is a fail

Wrestling

• Medals Awarded: 18
• Team USA:
  • Men:
    • Freestyle 57kg, 75kg, 86kg, 97kg, 125kg;
    • Greco-Roman 60kg, 67kg, 87kg, 97kg
  • W: Freestyle 50kg, 53kg, 57kg, 62kg, 68kg, 76kg
• Rules of the Game:
  • Both:
    • 2 sessions of 3 minutes
    • Wrestler wins by outscoring opponent at the end of regulation
      • A match can also be won by:
        • By Fall (aka pin): wrestler holds both opponent’s shoulders on mat simultaneously for 1-2 seconds
        • By Technical Superiority (Technical Fall): wrestler gains 10 point lead over opponent – think of this like getting run ruled in baseball
        • By Decision: Scores most point at end of time limit
        • By Default: if one wrestler cannot continue
        • By Injury: like it sounds
        • By DQ: if opponent gets 3 Cautions
  • Scoring:
    • Takedowns (2-5 points)
      • 2= awarded to the wrestler who brings down opponent from feet to stomach or side but no back or shoulders hit the mar
      • 3= awarded to the wrestler who bring opponent down by short amplitude throw but not in a danger position – or – opponent is taken from feet or stomach to back or side in danger position
      • 4 = awarded to the wrestler who bring opponent down by a throw of grand amplitude but does not put opponent in immediate danger position – or – if opponent maintains contact with at least 1 hand on the mat
      • 5 = awarded to the wrestler who bring opponent down by a throw of grand amplitude (feet go directly over his head) into a direct or immediate danger position
    • Reversal (1 point) = when a wrestler gains control of opponent from a defensive position
    • Exposure / Danger Position (2-3 points) = if a wrestler can get his opponent’s back to the mat for several seconds
      • The additional point can be earned for holding opponent in exposure for 5 continuous seconds
    • Penalties (1-2 points) = injury time out without bleeding, fleeing hold or the mat, striking opponent, intent to injure, illegal hold, etc
      • 3 Cautions = the match is over and opponent wins
    • Out of Bounds (1 point) = if a wrestler goes in the protection area, the match stops and 1 point to the opponent
    • Passivity (1 point) = point goes to wrestler if opponent flees hold or refuses to start
  • Freestyle:
    • If 0 points are scored in 2 minutes then the passive wrestler will be given a 30 second window to score, if not successful, the opponent gets 1 point
  • Greco-Roman:
    • Forbids holds above the waist
    • More emphasis on throws