#GenderEqualOlympics: Paris 2024 Making History on the Field of Play
International Olympic Committee news
Paris 2024 is the first Olympic Games in history with full gender parity on the field of play, thanks to the distribution of an equal number of quota places to female and male athletes by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Achieving gender equality took strength, perseverance, leadership and courage.
"In Paris, we are seeing the results of the enormous efforts made by the Olympic Movement and female trailblazers come to life. This is our contribution to a more gender-equal world."
Thomas Bach
IOC President
The IOC’s commitment to gender equality doesn’t stop on the field of play. Concrete measures are in place to promote balanced media coverage during the Games, and to increase the number of women in coaching, broadcasting and sports governance roles.
Gender equality at the Opening Ceremony
Gender equality has been evident from the onset of Paris 2024, with 196 National Olympic Committee (NOC) delegations (96 per cent) selecting two athletes – one male and one female – to carry their respective countries’ flag during the unforgettable Opening Ceremony on the River Seine. This initiative was first introduced at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to ensure that women athletes get an equal share of the spotlight during the opening ceremony in front of a global audience.
This strong demonstration of gender equality was mirrored later in the Paris ceremony during the Olympic oath, which was taken by French flagbearers Florent Manaudou and Mélina Robert-Michon, and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, which was shared by French Olympic legends Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec.
A gender-balanced sports programme
The milestones on the field of play at Paris 2024 include:
- A more gender-balanced sports programme, with 28 out of 32 sports reaching full gender equality.
- A more gender-balanced number of medal events, with the competition schedule comprising 152 women’s events, 157 men’s events and 20 mixed-gender events. This means that more than half of all medal events at Paris 2024 will be open to female athletes.
Accelerating the journey
“We are happy and proud to celebrate this historic milestone,” said IOC Corporate and Sustainable Development Director Marie Sallois of gender parity on the field of play. “This is the result of our strategic roadmap, Olympic Agenda 2020, which clearly positioned gender equality as a priority on and off the field of play, and deliberate action from the IOC and the concerted efforts of the entire Olympic Movement – men and women, because gender equality is a team sport.”
But the IOC’s mission goes further, with significant progress still needed in areas such as coaching, sports governance and broadcasting.
"We are committed to mobilising the entire Olympic Movement to accelerate gender equality, on the field of play and beyond, in and through sport. Let’s celebrate the moment but let’s not stop the journey – let’s accelerate it."
Marie Sallois
IOC Corporate and Sustainable Development Director
Advancing female coaches and leaders
Despite the advancements on the field of play for female athletes, there’s still a long way to go when it comes to improving the representation of women among elite coaches. In response to the low percentage of female coaches at the Olympic Games – only 13 per cent of coaches at Tokyo 2020 were women – the IOC created the Women in Sport High Performance Pathway, also known as WISH. Since it launched in 2021 with the support of Olympic Solidarity, over 100 women have graduated from the first-of-its-kind programme, and 10 of them are coaching at Paris 2024, illustrating its early success.
Beyond coaching, the IOC is working with International Federations to increase the number of female referees and judges, and five of them (tennis, triathlon, canoeing, sailing and hockey) have reached 50 per cent in terms of female representation among their International Technical Officials at Paris 2024.
The IOC also works with Olympic Movement stakeholders to bring more women into leadership positions, and it continues to lead by example. The recent election at the IOC Session in Paris reaffirmed the IOC’s commitment to closing the gender gap across its governance, with women now accounting for 42.3 per cent of the IOC membership, compared to 21 per cent in 2013, and women accounting for 46.7 per cent of the IOC Executive Board after Paris 2024.
Balanced schedule and visibility
The Olympic Games are one of the most powerful platforms for empowering women, and significant efforts have been made around the scheduling of the sports events during the Games to ensure that women’s and men’s sports events are distributed fairly over the 16 days.
In Paris, for the first time since its inclusion on the Olympic programme in 1984, the women's marathon will take place a day after the men's event and will conclude the athletics programme, showcasing the performances of women athletes ahead of the Closing Ceremony. For Paris 2024, this is made even more special by the fact that the marathon route pays tribute to the historic Women’s March of 1789.
In addition, the order of events for many of the combat and strength sports is now based on weight category, allowing the men’s and women’s events to alternate. Previously, the women’s competitions would be scheduled in the morning and the men’s in the evening, when there are typically more viewers.
Portrayal and broadcasting
Recognising that sports coverage is hugely influential in shaping gender norms and stereotypes, the IOC published its Portrayal Guidelines in 2018 to raise awareness and call for gender-equal and fair representation of sportspeople across all forms of media and communication. Updated in 2024, the latest edition is designed to foster more inclusive and respectful sports coverage, and, as the permanent host broadcaster for the Olympic Games, Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) is leading the way – and this extends to its workforce.
Only 22 per cent of accredited journalists at Tokyo 2020 were female, illustrating how women are under-represented in sports media, but OBS has taken steps to put more women in operational and managerial broadcast positions for Paris 2024, including:
- Approximately 35 female commentators (out of approximately 92 total positions), raising the percentage of female commentators at Paris 2024 to nearly 40 per cent;
- Two-thirds of the 42 OBS Broadcast Venue Manager positions being occupied by women; and
- Training more than 70 female camera operators ahead of Paris 2024 to ensure women are given an equal opportunity to develop their broadcast skills, with 25 of them working at Paris 2024.
According to OBS CEO Yiannis Exarchos, this goes hand in hand with a focus on amplifying women’s voices and stories from the Games, which has been evident since the first day of competition, and he is excited about the impact this could have on sports broadcasting more broadly.
“Yesterday was the most successful day on Olympic social platforms, and more than 50 per cent of our content is dedicated to women,” said Exarchos. “I don’t think there are many sports platforms, and especially ones as big as we have become, that have this balance. And we have done it while achieving strong engagement.
"So there is an opportunity after Paris 2024 for us to come to terms with the change that’s happening in society, and the media needs to embrace it. There’s no longer any reason whatsoever that coverage of women athletes shouldn’t be the same as that of men."
Yiannis Exarchos
OBS CEO
Women at the heart of the Paris 2024 project
From the very beginning, Paris 2024 has demonstrated its ambition to pay tribute to women and mainstreamed gender equality across all its programmes.
"The parity amongst athletes encouraged Paris 2024 to be ambitious on gender equality, with two objectives: advancing the role of women in sport, and using sport as a tool to contribute to more gender equality between men and women in society in general."
Marie Barsacq
Paris 2024 Director of Impact and Legacy
Highlights of the gender equality initiatives at Paris 2024:
- The emblem of the Games represents Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic.
- The marathon route was designed as a tribute to the Women’s March from Paris to Versailles during the French Revolution.
- Women account for 50 per cent of the 45,000 volunteers.
- The staff and Executive Board of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee are 50/50 gender balanced.
- Gender parity was achieved among the 10,000 torchbearers/relay participants.
- The 40,000 spots for the Marathon Pour Tous mass-participation event will also be split equally between men and women.
