Japan’s Ninja Warrior obstacle course to become an Olympic sport in 2028

The 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially announced in a general assembly, held on October 16, that the obstacle course event based on Japan’s hit sports reality game show, Sasuke, will be included in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The Sasuke obstacle course will become one of the five sports in the modern pentathlon, replacing the previous equestrian event after animal cruelty allegations at the Tokyo 2020 games. 

Sasuke is the long-running Japanese sports reality obstacle course game show originally produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and the sports entertainment production company, Monster9. First airing in 1997, Sasuke became a hit with viewers for its exciting and challenging obstacles and reoccurring athlete and celebrity contestants. Sasuke’s challenging obstacles became so popular that numerous countries created their own version of the TV program, Ninja Warrior, spreading the game’s popularity worldwide.

In its Japanese TV form, contestants first compete in a preliminary trial course, from which the number of contestants is narrowed down to one hundred competitors. These one hundred competitors must navigate a series of challenging obstacle courses, which become progressively more difficult as the competition goes on. 

The game includes four stages, each with unique and challenging obstacles that contestants must maneuver. In the game’s first stage competitors must quickly navigate multiple obstacles to hit a buzzer within the allotted time, in stage two they must successfully finish a timed course without falling into the water beneath them, and in the third stage, they complete a series of obstacles that test their upper body strength. 

The game’s final stage, known as Mount Midoriyama, is said to be the most challenging course, where contestants scale a tower to reach the button located at its peak before the time limit elapses in an attempt to achieve total victory. Obtaining a total victory in Sasuke is quite a feat, with only four contestants accomplishing the show’s final stage in its 26-year history. 

In Sasuke’s long run, a great number of athletes have competed in the show, so it will be interesting to see the obstacles now performed at the Olympic level. Given the extreme difficulty of successfully finishing the TV version of the obstacle course, some adjustments may be in order to ensure athletes have a decent chance to complete it during the Olympic games.