Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk thinks his sport will give the Olympics a big lift if its added to the 2020 Tokyo Games.There are more participants in skateboarding than most sports so I feel like they (the Olympics) need our credibility and they need our excitement level in their Summer Games, Hawk said.On Aug. 3, the International Olympic Committee intends to vote on whether skateboarding -- as part of a five-sport package -- will be on the program in Tokyo. The other sports are karate, sports climbing, surfing and baseball/softball. The plan for now is to approve all of them or none of them.Obviously skateboarding has a really strong connection with the youth and a great youth appeal and a passionate following so this is hugely exciting and we think a great proposal for us to take to the IOC session, IOC sports director Kit McConnell said.With skateboarding already thriving outside the Olympics, Hawk said the sport could catch on with worldwide viewers as snowboarding did in the Winter Olympics when Shaun White started to compete in the halfpipe event.In the beginning, snowboarding was felt more chastised than embraced and eventually it became the highlight of the Winter Games, Hawk said. I feel like skateboarding is on that trajectory, but probably is going to be more embraced its very first time out.Street and park are the two proposed disciplines for skateboarding in Tokyo. Street is skateboarding on any flat terrain like streets and sidewalks mixed with stairs and hand rails. Park is a combination of street, pool, and a little bit of vertical skateboarding.If skateboarding is approved, 80 athletes -- 40 men and 40 women -- will compete.The question of how to qualify the skateboarders is still being discussed, but McConnell said the world qualification process would probably start in mid-2018 and run through mid-2020 before the Olympics.Athletes will be drug-tested at both the qualification events and in Tokyo.Thats another benefit the Olympics inclusion gives us, McConnell said. This is an opportunity for everybody that is involved in skateboarding to continue to develop the education program and to continue to develop the testing programs. Its not just a matter of institutions alone talking to athletes, its about athletes understanding the importance and the values and speaking to each other about it.Various skateboarding groups would like to govern the sport at the 2020 Olympics, but the IOC said the International Roller Sports Federation would be the recognized body.McConnell acknowledged that the international federation hasnt run skateboarding events at a high level. The roller sports federation worked with the International Skateboarding Federation to establish a committee to help set up the way the sport would be run during the Olympics.The World Skateboarding Federation is also involved in a wider sense, according to McConnell.The IOC has been involved in the process since the beginning and trying to bring the key stakeholders together, WSF President Tim McFerran said. They identified the three groups are the key stakeholders in skateboarding that they felt should be the ones responsible for organizing skateboarding for the 2020 Olympics.McConnell said there already are plans for Tokyo venues that would allow skateboarding to be brought to the heart of the city and create a real connection with the youth.Hawk thinks youthful exuberance is important for the Summer Games.They dont have that element ... and if they are going to get any younger viewership, they need that, he said. So I think that (skateboarding) could very well happen. Leandro Barbosa Jersey . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display. 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Female mixed martial arts star Cris Cyborg Justinos next fight might be for a UFC championship, as the organization is apparently willing to change its previous stance against opening a featherweight division.UFC president Dana White recently shared the news on the promotions UFC Unfiltered podcast.Justino (17-1) is a 145-pound champion in all-female promotion Invicta FC. Her last two fights took place in the UFC, at a catchweight of 140 pounds. Currently, the UFCs heaviest female weight class is 135 pounds.Justino, 31, struggles to make even the 145-pound weight and recently said shed no longer cut any lower than that. According to White, the UFC actually offered Justino two inaugural featherweight title fights, against Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie, but the Brazilian turned them down.I offered Cris Cyborg a title fight at 145 pounds about a month ago, White said. She had eight weeks to get ready for it. She said she couldnt make the weight.Then I offered her another 145-pound title fight for Brooklyn [at UFC 208 on Feb. 11]. She turned it down. She turned down two 145-pound title fights.White went on to say he didnt understand why Justino turned down the second offer, given the ample amount of time between now and UFC 208.Justino was interviewed multiple times last month by Outside The Lines for a story focusing on weight cutting in MMA. In a Nov. 16 interview, she said shed only received an offer to fight at 140 from the UFC. But in a follow-up interview the next week, Justino said she had gotten two 145 offers from the UFC on Nov. 21.Justino said UFC first offered a non-title fight at 145 pounds, which she tuurned down.dddddddddddd When the UFC followed up with an offer of a title bout, she also declined.Justinos manager George Prajin addressed the situation Tuesday in a statement to ESPN.com.We are blessed and thankful to the UFC, Dana White and [matchmaker] Sean Shelby for finally offering to open the womens 145 division, the statement read.Unfortunately, Cris felt that she was not physically or mentally ready to take the fights for the proposed dates, especially after her last weight cut. We understand the [UFCs] frustration, but no one is more frustrated than Cris.I can say that she is back in the gym and doing everything possible to get mentally and physically ready to seize this amazing opportunity! Cris hopes to get back in the Octagon sometime after March 1, 2017.As far as Justinos opponent, White said Holm, a former FC bantamweight champion, wanted the fight but was advised against it by her coach, Mike Winkeljohn.According to Holms camp, she accepted a bout against Justino at 138 pounds before negotiations stalled.Justino is a former Strikeforce champion and the No. 1-ranked female pound-for-pound fighter in the world. A potential megafight between Justino and Ronda Rousey dominated headlines for years, although Rousey and the UFC always insisted the fight take place at 135 pounds.With Rouseys fighting future less certain than before, she is scheduled to fight defending bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 on Dec. 30.Justino won both of her UFC catchweight bouts via knockout. ' ' '