THE squash community is devastated but the leaders of world surfing are rapt by the decision of Tokyo Olympics organisers to recommend theirs as one of five sports for inclusion on the program of the 2020 Games.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With the shackles lifted from past regulations which made it difficult for new sports to be added, the Japanese have gone all out to take full advantage.
While it is still up to the International Olympic Committee session in Rio next year to make the final decision on the sports that will return or debut, it is considered that in the new era of innovation, it will simply rubber stamp the preferences of the next organisers.
Predictably the Japanese have opted for baseball/softball given the huge popularity of the men's game in the Land of the Rising Sun both at grassroots and professional levels. Given that all new sports have to provide equal opportunity for men and women, the merging of the two sports internationally has been rewarded as a smart move.
Karate is perhaps also no surprise, given the discipline's historical roots.
But the exclusion of three-time loser squash along with bowling and the lesser known wushu in favour of surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing is a little more contentious.
But the latter three sports all fit perfectly the desire of the IOC to introduce sports and events within them that will be attractive to the younger generations.
Not that the inclusion of at least two of them will be easy. There are obviously no surf beaches within the bounds of greater Tokyo whilst there appears to be a dispute already between various sporting bodies as to which actually governs skateboarding at the elite level.
On the other hand in sharp contrast to the negative approach of Adam Scott to the return of golf to the Olympic schedule in 2016, the likes of surf legends Mick Fanning and Layne Beachley could not be happier with the news that board-riding is on the precipice of full Olympic recognition.
Beachley's closest encounter with the Olympics was her appointment as a popular and effective athlete liaison officer to the Australian team in 2012 and Fanning acknowledges that he will almost certainly be in retirement when the flame ignites in Tokyo in five years' time.
But both know that the Games will mean exposure to new markets that the pro-circuit may otherwise never have accessed.
Squash has now failed three times to get the nod for the biggest dance of all, even though it has successfully been a part of the Commonwealth and some other smaller games for some time now. Not surprisingly spot fires are breaking out within the disparate sections of the sport with the professional tour now suggesting it might have been better to manage the latest bid rather than the international governing body.
If accepted the recommendations will mean 18 new events on the Olympic ledger in 2020 and nearly 500 more athletes in the Olympic Village.
It's just one of the significant changes that will now begin to change the face of in particular the Summer Olympics as we have come to know them.