Gender equality through time
At the Olympic Games
The Olympic Games have grown to be the largest, gender equal sporting event in the world.
More than a century after women first competed at the Olympic Games, female athlete numbers were close to equal with those of the men at Tokyo 2020.
The drive towards gender equality – on and off the field of play - has picked up pace in the Olympic Movement in recent years, thanks in part to progressive initiatives by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The number of women competing at the Olympic Games has increased significantly – from 34 per cent of the total at Atlanta 1996 to a new record of 48 per cent at Tokyo 2020, and a commitment to reach full gender equality for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
In addition to being the most gender-balanced Summer Games in history, Tokyo 2020 saw the implementation of a rule change which allowed one male and one female athlete to jointly carry their flag during the Opening Ceremony. 91% of NOCs had a female flag bearer – significantly increasing the visibility of female athletes during this iconic event.
Beijing 2022 was the most gender balanced Olympic Winter Games to date, with 45 per cent of women athletes. In October 2018, the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 were the first fully gender-balanced Olympic event ever.
The long road to equality
It has been a long road since the Paris 1900 Olympic Games, when the first female athletes competed in five events: tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrian and golf. Only 22 women took part, constituting a meagre 2.2 per cent of the 997 total competitors.
Over the past 25 years, the IOC has been encouraging and working with National Olympic Committees and International Federations (IFs) to increase female participation at the Olympic Games. Key changes have included opening up of eligibility in the various sports involved; the quota places set by the IOC and filled by the IFs; and the increase of the number of medal events for female athletes. Multiple new mixed-gender events have also been added to the further promote gender diversity and equality. Tokyo 2020 doubled the number of mixed events compared to Rio 2016, while the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will see four new mixed events on the programme.
Important steps have also been taken to balance the competition schedule. Starting in PyeongChang 2018, and continuing at Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022 and beyond, efforts have been made to balance the number of medal events per day and the total number of hours of competition for women’s and men’s sport.
The IOC is not only seeking to achieve statistical parity, but also understands that every opportunity provided for women's sport and female athletes in the Olympic Games has a flow-on impact for the promotion of gender equality, and the opportunities that are given to women’ athletes around the world.
More information and statistics can be found in the “Women in the Olympic Movement” Factsheet
Within the Olympic Movement
Leading by example
Recognising that having gender-balanced Olympic Games is not enough, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has taken increasing action over the years to ensure it is leading by example and encouraging the whole Olympic Movement to advance gender equality both on and off the field of play.
IOC as an organisation
Promoting gender equality within the IOC has been an important objective of the organisation since the creation of the Women and Sport Working Group in 1995, and a year later, when the IOC took the historic step of amending the Olympic Charter to include an explicit reference to the organisation’s role in advancing women in sport.
More recently, under the leadership of IOC President Thomas Bach, the gender gap in IOC membership, IOC Executive Board and across the IOC commissions has been closing.
The IOC continues to demonstrate its commitment to promoting gender equality within its leadership and is setting an example for other sporting bodies by increasing the number of women in its own decision-making positions. In 2023, the number of female IOC Members rose to 41 per cent, 100 per cent more than in 2013, also adding more diversity in terms of age and regional representation. Female representation on IOC commissions in 2023 rose to 50 per cent, a historic high that equates to a 100 per cent increase since 2013.
Olympic movement
In 1996, the IOC Session recommended that NOCs and IFs set a minimum target of 10 per cent of women in decision-making positions by the year 2000, and 20 per cent by 2005. As progress was made, this target was revised to a minimum of 30 per cent by 2020. IFs and NOCs were encouraged to adopt supporting measures to help them achieve and surpass this objective. To date, several NOCs and IFs have achieved gender balance and many more are making steady progress to close the gender gap in the upcoming Olympiad.
The IOC has also initiated leadership forums and training programmes for women in International Federations, National Federations and National Olympic Committees, to help prepare those in middle and senior management positions to stand for election to leadership positions.
Keeping the conversation going
At a time when gender equality is more important than ever and 25 years after the historic Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the IOC has restated its commitment in Olympic Agenda 2020+5 , the new strategic roadmap for the IOC, with several recommendations aiming to strengthen diversity, equality and inclusion across the Olympic Movement.
To support the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020+5, the IOC has defined 21 Gender Equality and Inclusion Objectives for the period 2021-2024. These objectives focus on strengthening gender equality and inclusion across the IOC’s three spheres of responsibility and five focus areas. They build on the progress already achieved and place a renewed focus on accelerating the efforts across the entire Olympic Movement, with NOCs, International Sport Federations, and the Organising Committees of the Olympic Games all encouraged to strive for gender-balanced representation in their leadership roles and decision-making bodies, among other goals.