Gender Equality in Sport

Sport is one of the most powerful platforms for promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls.

As the leader of the Olympic Movement, the IOC is taking continuous action to advance gender equality.

Great progress has been made in terms of balancing the total number of athletes participating at the Games, however, many other challenges and gaps remain. The IOC is working to address these inequalities through leadership development, advocacy and awareness campaigns, and appointing more women to leadership roles within the administration and key governance positions.

Together with many Olympic Movement stakeholders, the IOC has implemented significant gender equality initiatives so that girls and women around the world are being given greater access and opportunities to participate in sport.

News All news

IOC News 30 Sep 2022
Historic milestone: Equal number of men and women appointed by President Bach for positions in IOC commissions

Gender Equality 14 Sep 2022
Empowering female coaches: a week in the life of the WISH Programme

Gender Equality 27 Jun 2022
IOC welcomes creation of International Day of Women in Diplomacy

IOC News 15 Jun 2022
Unity in diversity: how the Olympic Games foster inclusion

Olympic Solidarity 25 May 2022
Olympic Solidarity and International Federations launch joint programme to support high- performance female coaches

IOC Young Leaders 13 May 2022
IOC Young Leaders tackling unequal access to sport at Global Sports Week

IOC Young Leaders 19 Apr 2022
IOC Young Leader Tania Lee is hoping to make sports leadership more inclusive

IOC Young Leaders 13 Apr 2022
IOC Young Leaders discuss inclusion with Paralympian Amy Purdy on latest episode of We Have a Goal podcast

IOC Young Leaders 29 Mar 2022
IOC Young Leader Layana de Souza is Changing the Score for women

IOC Young Leaders 22 Mar 2022
IOC Young Leader Christel Saneh aiming for gender balanced portrayal of athletes in the media

Gender Equality 15 Mar 2022
IOC welcomes new EU report setting out action plan to achieve gender equality in sport

IOC Young Leaders 15 Mar 2022
IOC Young Leader Pauline Msungu wants girls in Kenya to stand up and fight for their rights

2021-2024 Gender Equality and Inclusion Objectives

Kevin Krawietz of Team Germany and Laura Siegemund of Team Germany

To support the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020+5, the IOC has set Gender Equality and Inclusion Objectives for 2021-2024. These objectives build on many of the recommendations of the IOC Gender Equality Review project with the goal of continuing the “promotion of women in sport at all levels and in all structures”, whilst ensuring an inclusive approach that accounts for diverse and intersectional identities of women and men.

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Gender Equality and Inclusion Report 2021

Outlining the progress made in advancing gender equality and inclusion in the last Olympiad, this report reviews the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020 Recommendation 11 and the IOC Gender Equality Review Project and presents the IOC’s objectives for 2021-2024.

Download in English

Download in French

Download in Spanish

Portrayal guidelines

Sports coverage is very influential in shaping gender norms and stereotypes. These guidelines are intended to raise awareness of what constitutes gender bias across the various aspects of portrayal within the sporting context, and how this can be overcome to ensure our content and communications are more inclusive, balanced and representative of the world we live in.

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Women in Sport Commission

The role of the Women in Sport Commission is to advise the IOC Session, the IOC Executive Board and the IOC President on the development and implementation of the IOC women and sport policy and to promote equal opportunities for girls and women to participate in, and benefit from sport and physical activity.

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A gender-equality community

An IOC LinkedIn community group has been created for individuals working in the Olympic movement who are committed to closing the gender gap in sport. The group is a place to share best practices, success stories, lesson learned, news and events, and fosters a solutions-based approach to achieving gender equality both on and off the field of play.

Join the group

Gender equality through time

The IOC has been actively promoting the advancement of gender equality in and through sport across the Olympic Movement and beyond since the 1900s. This section offers a historical timeline of women’s participation in Olympic sport and leadership.

At the Olympic Games

Within the Olympic Movement

Advocacy and Support

One of the IOC’s priorities is to actively advocate equality between men and women. The IOC provides essential tools and funding in order to achieve the Olympic Movement’s gender-equality goals.

Gender Equality Review Project

Women & Sport Awards

Support initiatives

Partnerships