Karate made its sole Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020, featuring eight events across two disciplines before being dropped from the 2024 program.
Key Facts
- Total events
- 8
- Disciplines
- Kumite (sparring) and Kata (solo form)
- Competitors per event
- 10
- Kumite weight classes
- 3 for men, 3 for women
- Recognized kata available
- 102
- Olympic status
- One-time inclusion; not continued in 2024 or 2028
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Karate was selected as one of four optional sports added exclusively for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a host-nation initiative to expand the Games' appeal and reflect Japan's deep cultural association with the sport. It was not adopted as a permanent Olympic discipline.
Eight karate events were contested at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, spanning kumite sparring across three weight classes for each sex and one kata event for each sex. Each event had ten competitors, who could draw from 102 World Karate Federation-recognized kata without repeating any form.
Following its Tokyo debut, karate was not included in the 2024 Paris Olympics program. Though it made a shortlist for the 2028 Los Angeles Games announced in August 2022, it was ultimately not selected, leaving Tokyo 2020 as karate's only Olympic appearance to date.
Result
at Nippon Budokan, Tokyo