Karate P.E.I. excited sport included in 2020 Olympics

The president of Karate P.E.I.said it's thrilling to have the sport finally included in the Olympics and fitting that it will debut in the 2020 games in Tokyo.

"It's exciting to have it in the country of its origin," said Dawn Brown.

Five new sports for 2020

Besides karate, four other sports baseball/softball, skateboarding, sports climbing and surfing were announced earlier this month as new sports for the 2020 Olympics.

Brown added that she wasn't surprised to hear the announcement because of the hard work of several organization to have karate included in the games.

"We really felt that this was the year it was actually going to happen," Brown said. "It gives global exposure [and] it adds credibility to karate."

Karate strong in P.E.I.

Brown explained karate is strong on the Island with more than 400 members in 13 dojos, or clubs. Some members compete nationally as well as regionally, she said.

"Opening [karate] up as an Olympic sport, I think, hopefully, it's going to open up the door to possibly some more funding or sponsorship opportunities to help us develop more programs and get more high-performance training for those athletes to help them on their path to the podium," she said.

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