The sport that should be in the 2020 Olympics

If you grew up playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on Playstation and tried to replicate it outside, you've now got a chance to win an Olympic gold medal.

Australia's best male squash player Cameron Pilley powers past Mohamed ElShorbagy in the PSA World Series Finals. Picture: Contributed

SPORT climbing, skateboarding, karate, baseball/softball, and surfing are the newest Olympic sports that will grace the Tokyo Games in 2020.

If you grew up playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater on Playstation and tried to replicate it outside, you've now got a chance to win an Olympic gold medal.

If you ever hung out at the Sunshine Coast's picturesque beaches for a few waves, you've now got a chance to win an Olympic gold medal.

If you ever tried to climb a wall or rock face really, really fast, you've now got a chance to win an Olympic gold medal.

But if you've won a Commonwealth Games gold medal and played in major tournaments in places like New York, Dubai or Cairo, you can't even compete at the Games.

Squash is one of the toughest, and most versatile, sports on the planet.

It can be played virtually anywhere you have a spare 10m x 7m for a court, and that major positive is something of which organisers of the world's biggest competitions have already taken advantage.

Some of squash's best images have come from the Tournament of Champions, in which the court is set is set inside New York's Grand Central Station, and the Al Ahram International, which is played on the doorstep of the Great Pyramids of Giza.

The glass courts, in which the above are played, are designed so fans can see the action from every angle but players can focus on the game.

Both the men's and women's top 20 include players from eight different countries, with men's Australian pair Cameron Pilley and Ryan Cuskelly ranked 14th and 16th respectively.

It is a sport that requires fast reflexes, incredible fitness, and boasts some of the world's top athletes.

So why was its Olympic campaign squashed?

Squash was one of three "new" sports initially in the running for the 2020 Games, but lost out to wrestling, which was reinstated.

The sport tried again but lost out to this five, which were officially approved by the International Olympic Committee.

The reasoning is that it "brings the Games to young people" and reflects the "trend of urbanisation of sport".

Squash is more exciting than all five of the included sports; I seriously doubt how climbing a pile of rocks can be considered a better option.

Originally published as The sport that should be in the 2020 Olympics