Mixed relays in athletics and swimming and three-a-side basketball were among new events approved yesterday by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for inclusion in the Tokyo Games in 2020.

The IOC’s executive board also agreed to add mixed doubles in table tennis, mixed team events in judo, shooting and archery and a mixed team triathlon.

IOC president Thomas Bach said the new disciplines would make the games “more youthful, more urban and will include more women”.

Tokyo would include a 4 x 400 mixed relay in athletics and a 4 x 100 medley mixed relay in swimming. Swimming would also include two further new events - a men’s 800 metres and women’s 1500 metres freestyle race.

The IAAF described the mixed relay as a “delightfully chaotic” event. It was staged for the first time at an IAAF event at the world youth championships in Cali, Colombia, in 2015 and was won by South Africa. Another was staged at the world relays in Bahamas in April.

Teams are given the freedom to line up in whichever order they choose, allowing for sizeable leads to develop, or collapse, as the race progresses.

Three-a-side basketball, an urban sport where the teams aim for the same hoop, was introduced at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore 2010.