The Executive Commission (EC) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today approved the program of events and athlete quotas for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, which are focused on gender equality and youth.
Skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing and breaking have been confirmed as additional sports by the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee. This new flexibility is part of the reforms of the Olympic Agenda 2020. Today’s decision will help to make the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris suitable for a post-corona world.
In accordance with the recommendations of the Commission on the Olympic Program, the main features of the Paris 2024 Olympic Program are as follows:
Exactly 50% of the participation of men and women, which is due to gender equality, which has already been achieved for Tokyo 2020 with 48.8% of the participation of women.
Mixed growth of events from 18 to 22 compared to Tokyo 2020.
Skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing and break like other sports have confirmed at the suggestion of Paris 2024. Breaking will make his Olympic debut.
Reduction of the total quota of athletes (including all new sports) to exactly 10,500.
Reduction of the total number of events with a final program of 329 events.
“With this program, we are making the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris suitable for the post-corona world. We continue to reduce the cost and complexity of hosting games. While we will already achieve gender equality at the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, for the first time in Olympic history we will see exactly the same number of female athletes as male athletes. The focus is also on the youth,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.
Gender equality
The 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo next year will be the first Olympic Games on gender equality, with a total participation of 48.8% women, which will be further increased in Paris 2024, reaching exactly the same number of male and female athletes for the first time in Olympic history.
Athletics, boxing and cycling will achieve full gender equality for the first time in Paris in 2024, which means that 28 of the 32 sports in the 2024 betting program will be completely equal between the genderes.
Paris 2024 will also see a growth in mixed events from 18 to 22 September compared to Tokyo 2020.
Quotes from athletes
The quota of 10, 500 athletes set for Paris 2024, including new sports, will lead to a general reduction in the number of athletes – 592 less than in Tokyo 2020 (11, 092). This will also lead to a decrease in the number of officials, and hence the overall size and complexity of the games.
The reduction in the 28 sports was proportional and focused on the sports that can best absorb the reduction, while maintaining the universality of the games.
Weight lifting
The highest reduction in the quota was carried out in weightlifting, in which four tests were also removed from the program. The sport now has five events per gender with a quota of 120 athletes, compared to 196 in Tokyo (and before that 260 in Rio 2016), with the specific weight classes to be completed by the IMF in the fourth quarter of 2021.
In making its decisions on weightlifting, the IOC COMMISSION took into account its strong concerns about the leadership of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) and the history of doping in sports. He also reiterated that the place of weightlifting in the program of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris will continue to be considered by the IOC.
Box
The second highest reduction was in boxing. At the same time, for the first time, the sport will achieve full gender equality in the participation of athletes in Paris 2024 and will promote a balanced program that includes seven men’s and six women’s races, with the specific weight classes to be completed by the IOC-EC in the fourth quarter of 2021.
When deciding on boxing, the IOC took into account the ongoing concerns about the International Boxing Federation (AIBA). The recognition of the federation was suspended by the IOC. At the same time, the IOC reflected its commitment to protecting athletes in the boxing community.
Events and a youth-oriented approach
In the post-recent times world, limiting the total number of events is a key element in slowing the growth of the Olympic program and additional costs. Although the FI called for a total of 41 additional events, the IOC COMMISSION decided not to increase the number of events in one of the 28 sports of the original program in order to ensure a fair and objective approach to the application of this principle in the revision of the event program.
In addition, the IOC COMMISSION has made efforts to further reassure athletes during this difficult time, in line with the “athletes first” approach of the IOC and the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee. Therefore, given the short three years between the Tokyo and Paris Olympics in 2024, it has retained the vast majority of current events.
Track and field
The IOC COMMISSION has recognized the commitment of World Athletics to full gender equality both in terms of athlete quotas and in terms of the number of events. However, in order not to increase the overall size of the Olympic Games, the EC has decided to maintain the same number of athletics events in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Program (48), while World Athletics offers the opportunity to replace the men’s 50 km race with a new mixed race.
This mixed replacement event can be a running or track event, as long as the format of the event and competition fits into the existing location/tracks.
The EC also recognized the need to give World Athletics the extra time to complete their coeducational event proposal that meets the above requirements and therefore confirmed a window to confirm the specific event proposal by 31 May.
Sail
The IOC COMMISSION supported the introduction of the new mixed kitesurfing and mixed events with 470 two-person dinghies, but decided to further review the open mixed event in order to adequately assess the main cost, safety and security considerations of the athletes.