But rather than a justification for its exclusion from the Olympics, this underscores darts’ versatility, welcoming players of all genders, ages and fitness levels.
Played professionally in more than 70 countries, darts appears deceptively simple, but in truth requires meticulous calculations, steely nerves and elite hand-eye coordination.
As a favourite pastime for the younger generation, maybe it’s time it steps up to the Olympic oche.
Paintball
A favourite for birthday parties, team building, or weekend warriors, this activity blends strategy with physical exertion.
Using guns propelling dye-filled gelatin capsules that break upon impact, paintball offers a different spectacle from conventional shooting events.
The strategic, adrenaline-charged game demands individual agility and tactical prowess – often likened to the “life-size game of chess” – where coordination and communication among a team are also paramount for victory.
Olympic rings lurk on those able to contort their bodies, jump over humans, chase down cheetahs or scale towering walls. Paintball favours those that can move swiftly, crawl, dive and dodge, all while lugging cumbersome equipment.
If the sport can prepare soldiers for combat, it’s certainly Olympic calibre.
Orienteering
Koh-Lanta, the French version of the popular American TV show Survivor, presents an orienteering challenge for its final five contestants.
Each survivor is strategically positioned across the island, and asked to navigate using a map and compass to locate three concealed daggers that clinch their place in the finale.
Blending rugged athleticism and mental acuity, orienteering entices individuals who seek adventure beyond traditional sports, embracing a reality-show-like activity. It would turn the heads of a younger audience, aligning with the IOC’s commitment to innovation and inclusivity.
Once dismissed as non spectator friendly, orienteering debunks this with modern technology. Mobile cameras and drones can offer real-time video of runners, image-stabilised bodycams provide the competitors’ view, and tracking devices compare competitors’ progress. This invalidates distant arguments – if such criteria held, golf wouldn’t be an Olympic sport, either.
There’s a reason Survivor is so popular.
Pickleball
Pickleball is growing 20 per cent a year in Australia – home of the 2032 Olympic Games.
Touted as one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, pickleball is played on a court one-quarter the size of a traditional tennis court, using a paddle rather than a racquet.
It is gradually fulfilling Olympic requirements, notably its recent expansion to encompass participation from 78 nations.
Despite being relatively new outside the US and recently Australia, its global appeal and accessible gameplay align with the Olympic ethos, enhancing its prospects for a Games debut.
Four more years of growth spells prosperity for pickleball.
Dodgeball
If it is not yet clear, this list comprises sports primed to engage a younger audience, each embodying this ideal.
Dodgeball is no different – in fact, it might just top that list.
A favourite in the United States, dodgeball managed to engage the most reluctant and inactive students.
Aside from the 2004 film staring Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughan, increased visibility of the sport sprouted from its biennial World Cup. The 2018 iteration was held in New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
The middle-school pastime ascended to some of the most revered grounds worldwide, a testament to its rising prominence.
The sport is simple – hurl the ball at opposing players to eliminate them, dodge their throws or catch it to survive and knock them out. Players can exit and rejoin the fray in mere seconds, injecting the sport with thrill and unpredictability.
Dodgeball is poised to make its way beyond MSG as well.
Chase tag
Everyone’s heard it, everyone’s played it. Chase tag is arguably as universal as it gets, epitomising the ultimate test of survival.
The playground game for children, its association with simpler days is what makes it so timeless, that and any open space can be a venue.
Obstacles around a cube of obstacles on a course adds dynamic flair to what critics view as a potentially repetitive show. World Chase Tag’s videos have even gone viral within the parkour community, amplifying its appeal and exhilarating athleticism.
Distinguishing itself further from essentially all other Olympic sports, chase tag requires zero explanation. Rooted in primal origins, it’s played by children across cultures who need to remember just one rule: “Tag, you’re it.”
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