Keep on dreaming. Paris 2024 put breaking on the Olympic agenda, but it’s not the only fringe sport vying fora shot at glory in the Games. With climbing, surfing and skateboarding already reeling younger viewers in, LK picks future podium contenders to watch out for…
FLYING DISCS
Ultimate, aka ultimate frisbee, began life in the late 1960s when students at Amherst College in the USA developed a team game using pie tins and cake pan lids. Inclusive to the core, with mixed gender teams and players calling out their own fouls (no referees), advocates reckon ultimate embodies the Olympic spirit.
ACROBATICS
TikTok sensation Teqball is an action-packed game fusing foot volleyball (aka sepak takraw) with table tennis. Players use an array of acrobatic tricks and overhead kicks to hit a football back and forth over a Plexiglass net, without using their hands or arms. Ronaldinho competed at the World Champs, and David Beckham, Lionel Messi and Neymar are among the high-profile fanbase.
JUMP & DODGE
You probably know it from rained-off PE lessons or that 2004 film, but with 67.5 million-plus players worldwide, dodgeball is no joke. Officially recognised as a sport in 2017, hopes are high. “Dodgeball has all the key skills for the Olympics,” England veteran player Jordan Taylor insists. “You need to be able to throw, run and jump.” Simple, hey?
