Olympic Agenda reforms highlights
The wide-ranging reforms of Olympic Agenda (Olympic Agenda 2020 and Olympic Agenda 2020+5) have changed the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement profoundly. Launched under the motto “Change or be changed” and based on the widest-ever consultation process, the reform programme initiated by IOC President Thomas Bach was unanimously approved by the 127th IOC Session in Monaco in December 2014.
These reforms followed a year of discussion and consultation with all stakeholders of the Olympic Movement, together with external experts and the general public. More than 40,000 submissions were received from the public during the process, generating some 1,200 ideas.
Fourteen Working Groups synthesised the discussions and debates throughout the whole Olympic Movement and wider society before they were finalised by the Executive Board ahead of the 127th Session.
Work on implementation began immediately after the reforms were adopted. Among other things, work began on the Olympic Channel. The new Invitation Phase was launched for the 2024 Olympic Games, allowing cities to present an Olympic project that best matched their long-term sports, economic, social and environmental plans. Some of the reforms were also included in the 2022 process, in close cooperation with the Games host.
“After more than 10 years of implementing the Olympic Agenda reforms we can say: We drove the change. I would like to thank the stakeholders of the Olympic Movement who all played their part in these changes. Together, we have ensured that the Olympic Movement will go faster, reach higher, be stronger – together for generations to come. Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” IOC President Thomas Bach said ahead of the 144th IOC Session in Greece, where the results of the reforms will be presented to the IOC Members.
The IOC has released the highlights of the Olympic Agenda reforms summarised in 10 topics.
Olympic Agenda reforms highlights
Background
Adopted by unanimous agreement at the 127th IOC Session in Monaco in December 2014, Olympic Agenda 2020 consisted of 40 recommendations. These 40 recommendations were like individual pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, which when put together were intended to provide a clear picture of what the future of the Olympic Movement could look like. They offered a clear vision of where the Olympic Movement was headed and how best to protect the uniqueness of the Games and strengthen the Olympic values in society.
These reforms followed a year of discussion and consultation with all stakeholders of the Olympic Movement, together with external experts and the general public. More than 40,000 submissions were received from the public during the process, generating some 1,200 ideas.
Fourteen Working Groups synthesised the discussions and debates throughout the whole Olympic Movement and wider society before they were finalised by the Executive Board ahead of the 127th IOC Session.
Work on implementation began immediately after the reforms were adopted. Among other things, work began on the Olympic Channel. The new Invitation Phase was launched for the 2024 Olympic Games, allowing cities to present an Olympic project that best matched their long-term sports, economic, social and environmental plans. Some of the reforms were also included in the 2022 process, in close cooperation with the Games host.
Adopted in March 2021, Olympic Agenda 2020+5 succeeded Olympic Agenda 2020 and set the direction of travel for the IOC and the Olympic Movement to 2025. It consisted of a set of 15 recommendations that were motivated by five influential contemporary trends, all of which were identified as areas where sport and the values of Olympism had a key role to play, notably in a post-Covid world:
- Solidarity
- Digitalisation
- Sustainable development
- Credibility
- Economic and financial resilience
The 15 recommendations inspired by these trends called on the IOC and the Olympic Movement to:
- Strengthen the uniqueness and the universality of the Olympic Games
- Foster sustainable Olympic Games
- Reinforce athletes’ rights and responsibilities
- Continue to attract the best athletes
- Further strengthen safe sport and the protection of clean athletes
- Enhance and promote the Road to the Olympic Games
- Coordinate the harmonisation of the sports calendar
- Grow digital engagement with people
- Encourage the development of virtual sports and further engage with videogaming communities
- Strengthen the role of sport as an important enabler for the UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Strengthen the support to refugees and populations affected by displacement
- Reach out beyond the Olympic community
- Continue to lead by example in corporate citizenship
- Strengthen the Olympic Movement through good governance
- Innovate revenue generation models.
Olympic Agenda 2020+5 was delivered with the engagement and active participation of all constituents, stakeholders and partners of the Olympic Movement, including the United Nations (UN) and NGOs that support the mission and values of the Movement. In the four years since its adoption, Olympic Agenda 2020+5 has left a significant imprint on the work of the IOC and the wider Olympic Movement. It has profoundly changed the Olympic Games.