The Tokyo Olympics will scale new heights, ride the crest of a wave, and hit it out of the park.
You can guarantee the Games will achieve that triple-whammy, because sport climbing, surfing and baseball are all part of Japan's big show.
The Games of the 32nd Olympiad have been hit hard by the pandemic, but the diversity of 'new' sports on offer means a feast of entertainment is beckoning, designed to attract younger audiences.
Skateboarding an Olympic sport? After snowboarding proved a raging success at the Winter Games, it was a banker that kickflips and Caballerials would be coming to the summer programme.
And soon enough we will all have a tight grip on the technicalities of lead climbing, speed climbing and bouldering.
The Olympics are getting a radical facelift, and you'll want to take a close look.
Sport climbing
Given the Olympic motto is 'faster, higher, stronger', perhaps it is a wonder that climbing has not been a part of the Games before now.
Yet this version of the sport is a relatively modern phenomenon, having first become established in the 1980s.
Climbing walls are as prevalent in many parts of the world as ice rinks or bowling alleys, becoming a fashionable leisure activity but a competitive sport for some.
Complicated routes to dizzying heights, seeking the highest controlled hold possible, are the hallmark of lead climbing, while speed climbing is an attack on the senses for competitor and viewer alike, with elite men having been known to hurtle up a 15-metre wall in barely five seconds.
Bouldering is a test of problem-solving expertise as well as skill, a true examination of the climber's wit and athleticism.
At Tokyo's Aomi Urban Sports Park, the climbing competition for men and women will cover all three disciplines, with combined scores deciding the medals.
Surfing
Sailing, canoeing and kayaking have been mainstays of the Olympic Games, and now surfing joins as a high-octane addition to the roster of sports.
The daredevil nature of surfing means it should prove one of the outstanding spectacles, assuming Mother Nature brings the Pacific coast waves Games organisers are looking for.
Each of the 20 men and 20 women competing will be allowed to ride up to 25 waves in 30 minutes, with their two highest scopes from the five judges being counted, so choosing the right moment for a high-tariff manoeuvre is all important.
Surf stars will be assessed on their "commitment and degree of difficulty, innovative and progressive manoeuvres, combinations of major manoeuvres, variety of manoeuvres, and speed, power and flow", the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said.
American John John Florence is a man to watch out for, with the 28-year-old two-time former world champion having built up his skills riding the waves of his native Hawaii. He suffered a worrying knee injury in Perth, Australia in May, but has recovered in time for the Games.
Skateboarding
Once largely portrayed as the preserve of weed-smoking punk kids, and certainly still patronised by the disaffected youth, skateboarding now comes with a highly professional element too.
Washington Square Park, Venice Beach and the undercroft of London's Southbank Centre have been epicentres of the growing subculture, but now the focus turns to Tokyo, where separate street and park disciplines will test the elite boarders.
Competitors will be assessed on the difficulty level, the originality and the execution of their displays at the Ariake Urban Sports Park.
This will be skateboarding's coming-out party as a major competitive sport, with the eyes of millions across the world setting their eyes on the stars who put themselves in more danger of injury than most Olympians.
Japan's Yuto Horigome and Aori Nishimura won gold in the men's and women's Street World Championship in Rome just a matter of weeks ago, ramping up the interest at home.
British 12-year-old Sky Brown, poised to become her country's youngest summer Olympian, will also be one to watch after recovering from a horror skateboarding accident last year that saw her suffer skull fractures. They are a tough set in this sport, with surely nobody braver than Brown.
Karate
Of course karate needed to be in any 21st century Olympics hosted by Japan, and it may be a surprise to many that this marks its debut at the Games.
The sport has Japanese roots and there seem sure to be home gold medals, while global exposure to karate is perhaps at an all-time high thanks to the popularity of Karate Kid spin-off Cobra Kai, the Netflix series.
Spain are a mighty force too, with Damian Quintero and Sandra Sanchez prime contenders for gold in the kata discipline, both being ranked number one in the world.
In the combat element, known as kumite, the jargon may take some getting used to for newcomers. One point, known as a Yuko, is awarded for a punch to key areas of an opponent, including the head, back or torso, while a Waza-ari is worth two points and will be given for a kick to the body.
An Ippon, for three points, is achieved by landing a high kick to the head or a punch to a grounded opponent.
Karate will take place at Tokyo's famous Nippon Budokan, which as well as being a famous martial arts venue also famously played host to The Beatles for a series of shows in 1966.
Rock acts including Bob Dylan and Cheap Trick recorded legendary live albums at the Budokan, which was built for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and has also staged Muhammad Ali fights, one a standard boxing match in 1972 and the other a bizarre hybrid clash in 1976 with wrestler Antonio Inoki.
Baseball and softball
Baseball was an Olympic medal-awarding sport from 1992 to 2008 and softball had that status from 1996 to 2008, so you would be forgiven for not feeling any huge rush of enthusiasm about its return to the Games.
Unlike in basketball, the United States do not bring their baseball A-listers to the Games, relying on a group largely formed of minor-leaguers and free agents, and South Korea were the last Olympic champions.
This year the competition will feature the Dominican Republic, Israel, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the United States, while the women's softball event will be contested by Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Mexico and the USA.
Japan's baseball stars are reportedly each in line for bonuses worth 10 million yen (£65,000) if they carry off the gold medal.
They won an exhibition event at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, beating the United States in the final, and have since claimed a silver and two bronze medals.
MLB: Gil's 14 strikeouts, Soto's 2 home runs keep Yankees rolling
Luis Gil set a franchise rookie record with 14 strikeouts and was backed by Juan Soto’s two home runs as the red-hot New York Yankees rolled to their sixth straight win, 6-1 over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.
Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Trevino also homered for the Yankees, who won for the 12th time in 14 games and improved to an AL-best 32-15.
New York is 12-2-1 in series, matching 2002 as the only time since 1950 it has won 12 of its first 15 series.
Gil allowed one run on five hits over six innings to win his fourth straight start. He surpassed Orlando Hernandez’s 13 strikeouts on Aug. 13, 1998. Hernandez threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Saturday.
Soto hit a 417-foot home run in the first inning, had an RBI single in the second and added another solo shot in the fifth on a 437-foot drive into the right-field bleachers. Soto, who had his 18th career multihomer game and first with the Yankees, went 4 for 4 with a walk and is batting .317 with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs.
The White Sox struck out a season-high 16 times and fell to a major league-worst 4-18 on the road and 14-32 overall.
Marlins stun Mets with late rally
Josh Bell hit a tying three-homer to cap a four-run ninth off Edwin Diaz and the Miami Marlins pulled out an improbable 10-9 win over the struggling New York Mets.
Diaz was called on to protect a 9-5 lead in the ninth but Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled home a run and Bryan De La Cruz reached on an infield single with one out before Bell belted Diaz’s first-pitch slider 428 feet to center field for the tying runs.
After Tanner Scott pitched a scoreless top of the 10th, Otto Lopez singled home automatic runner Christian Bethancourt in the bottom half to give the Marlins a fourth straight win.
Diaz has allowed seven earned runs, seven hits, three walks and two homers over 2 1/3 innings in his past three appearances.
The Mets have lost seven of nine and dropped five games under .500 (20-25) for the first time since an 0-5 start.
Royals’ Lugo gets AL-best 7th win
Seth Lugo struck out 10 to earn his American League-leading seventh victory and Salvador Perez drove in a pair of runs in a 5-3 win over the Oakland Athletics.
Lugo allowed two runs and six hits with a walk in 5 2/3 innings. He notched his second straight double-digit strikeout game.
James McArthur struck out two in the ninth for his 11th save.
Ross Stripling was saddled with his league-leading eighth loss and Oakland dropped its season-high seventh in a row.
MLB: Pirates' Skenes strikes out 11 in 6 no-hit innings for first major league win
Paul Skenes struck out the first seven batters and finished with 11 as part of six no-hit innings in his second major league start, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 9-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
Skenes allowed just one baserunner – Michael Busch’s full-count walk in the fifth – in a dominant performance to earn his first victory. He struck out the side in the first and fanned Mike Tauchman on a 100-mph fastball on his 100th and final pitch – his 12th to reach triple digits.
The No. 1 pick in the 2023 amateur draft became the third rookie with seven strikeouts to start a game, joining Jacob deGrom on Sept. 15, 2014, and Jim Deshaies on Sept. 23, 1986. He also became the first rookie with an outing of at least six no-hit innings and 10-plus strikeouts since Chris Heston threw a no-hitter for San Francisco against the Mets on June 9, 2015.
The Cubs didn’t get their first hit until Christopher Morel singled against Carmen Mlodzinski with two outs in the seventh.
Andrew McCutchen and Jared Triolo homered for the Pirates, who have won the first two games of this series after losing seven of nine.
Kyle Hendricks allowed season highs of eight runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings in his second start since returning from a lower back strain.
Rays’ Alexander flirts with perfection
Tyler Alexander took a perfect game into the 8th inning before Danny Jansen blooped an opposite-field, one-out single and the Tampa Bay Rays held on for a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Alexander retired his first 22 batters, but Jansen dropped a 1-0 changeup between right fielder Josh Lowe and second baseman Richie Palacios.
Davis Schneider homered two pitches later to draw the Blue Jays within 4-2.
Alexander allowed three runs on three hits without a walk and struck out four. He threw 105 pitches, three more than his previous career high.
Pete Fairbanks pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in five chances.
Palacios hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning off Chris Bassitt as Tampa Bay won for the 10th time in 14 games.
Streaking Astros edge Brewers
Jake Meyers hit a two-run homer and Jeremy Pena added a three-run shot to lift the Houston Astros to their sixth consecutive win, 5-4 over the Milwaukee Brewers.
It was the eighth win in nine games for the Astros, who moved into third place in the AL West.
Jake Bauers homered and Joey Ortiz added three hits, including a three-run home run for the Brewers, who went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
Olympic hopeful Tamarri Lindo faces deportation to Jamaica amidst Olympic dreams
Tamarri Lindo, a standout track athlete from York University in Canada, finds himself grappling with the looming threat of deportation just as his Olympic aspirations reach a critical juncture. Despite his impressive athletic achievements, including a recent bronze medal in the 60-metre hurdles for York University at the national collegiate championships, Lindo's dreams of representing Canada at the upcoming Olympics are in peril.
Tamarri's journey to Canada began in 2019 when he and his family fled Jamaica due to alleged threats and violence linked to his father George Lindo's political activism against gang influence in support of the opposition party. Tamarri, who has excelled both academically and athletically, earned a Ca.$2,500 scholarship after catching the eye of scouts while in high school.
"My goal was to make the 2024 Paris Olympics. But now, it feels like everything is being taken away," Lindo lamented in an emotional interview with CTV National News. "I feel like I could have a mental health breakdown. My heart is sinking."
Despite providing evidence of threats and violence faced in Jamaica, the Lindo family's asylum claims have been denied multiple times by Canadian immigration officials. The most recent pre-removal risk assessment, conducted in March 2023, upheld previous decisions, prompting the Canada Border Services Agency to issue a deportation order scheduled for next week.
Immigration lawyer Aidan Simardone, advocating for the Lindo family, has filed for a judicial review as their final recourse to remain in Canada. He condemned the decision, highlighting the potential danger awaiting the Lindos if forced to return to Jamaica.
"The fact that they are doing this is unconscionable," Simardone asserted. "It goes against our Canadian values of providing people their fair opportunities and protection to those in danger in other countries."
For Tamarri, who hoped his athletic achievements would bolster his family's case for residency, the uncertainty looms heavily. As he faces the imminent threat of deportation, he remains hopeful for a successful appeal while continuing to train and pursue his athletic goals amidst the uncertainty that surrounds his family's future in Canada.
As the legal battle unfolds, supporters have rallied behind the Lindo family, advocating for a reconsideration of their case and hoping for a resolution that allows them to remain in Canada and for Tamarri to pursue his Olympic dreams.
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