Recently, the organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics have suggested that breakdancing be included in 2024, making it closer to becoming an Olympic sport. The other 3 sports-surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing-will all make debuts in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. That is to say, audience will be able to watch these three sports as Olympic events for the first time.

The organizers stressed that four sports had been chosen since they would reflect the city’s identity and help take the Olympics to the street. They added that the purposes were to deliver a Games that was able to keep up with the times and encourage new audience and attract young people. Breakdancing is a typical example which can be played without the limitations of time and places in urban and other environments.

As one of the sports at the Young Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018, breakdancing now could see its popularity greatly raised. But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) needs to approve the French suggestion before it can be formally added to the 2024 Paris Olympics sports programme.

With new IOC rules first introduced to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Host cities can select sports and propose them for inclusion in those Games if they are popular in that country and add to the Game’s appeal.

Antonio Espinos Ortueta, the president of the World Karate Federation said, “Our sport has grown rapidly over the last years. We believe that we have met all the requirements and that we have the perfect conditions to be added to the sports programme. However, we have learned today that we still haven’t had the chance to prove our value as an Olympic sport.”

Fourteen-year-old Harini Logan won the Scripps National Spelling Bee last Thursday, defeating 12-year-old Vikram Raju in a tiebreaker. It’s the first time that the contest has ever been decided by a tie-breaking round of spelling.

A spelling bee is a contest where players take turns spelling words. Though the bee is mainly about spelling, it also focuses on the meaning of the words. During parts of the contest, students were asked to choose the correct meaning of a word.

That caused trouble for Harini. She was asked about the meaning of the word “pullulation”. She said the word described the nesting of birds. The contest organizers had expected the answer to be the “swarming of bees”. Harini was removed from the contest. But soon she was back in- the judges double-checked and learned that Harini’s definition was also correct. One by one, the other students spelled a word wrong and got out. Finally, only Harini and Vikram were left.

To make ties much less likely, a “spell-off” was added to the contest in recent years. In the spell-off, Vikram and Harini each took turns trying to spell the words they were asked, but both made blunders. At one point, Harini could have won by spelling the word “drimys” (a kind of plant) correctly. But she missed it.

That put the two into a super tie-breaking event, where they were each given 90 seconds to correctly spell as many words as they could. The New York Times reports that the two spelled so quickly that the judges needed to review the video to see who had won. In 90 seconds, Vikram had spelled 15 words correctly, Harini had 21 correct spellings, making her the new winner.

This was Harini’s fourth at the Bee and it’s the first time she’s made it to the finals. Describing her win, she said, “This is just such a dream!”

Rollerblading

Rollerblading is an excellent sport that just about anyone can enjoy. Experience and types of skating range in difficulty from simple fun skating to a much more aggressive style of skating.

After you have mastered the basics of rollerblading, you can begin to master the sport. 【小题1】 However, some athletes prefer to perfect their sport and compete in their chosen sport.

The sport of rollerblading has many variations and styles that allow competition. 【小题2】 Also known as urban skating, free skating is set in an urban setting and participants must travel through streets and travel around any obstacles as fast as possible in order to reach the finish. 【小题3】 Jumps, slides and grinds are basic tricks freestyle skaters often use.

【小题4】 It is specially enjoyed by skaters who prefer performing tricks and challenging movements. Aggressive skating can be performed in an urban setting, like free skating, and this style is often called street skating. Aggressive skaters can also be found at skateparks performing tricks on the obstacles created specifically to cater to tricks.

Street skaters use any type of urban obstacle to perform amazing tricks ranging from jumps and slides to grinds and airs. Competitions in aggressive skating require contestants to perform increasingly difficult and dangerous tricks in order to outmatch their competitors. 【小题5】