In a number of changes to events, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed the event program for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, with no changes affecting volleyball. The changes are meant to boost female participation, reduce the number of athletes and spark youth and urban appeal.
IOC President Thomas Bach commented that “The fascinating new events that we approved today, together with the five new sports that were added to the Tokyo 2020 program last year, represent a step-change in the Olympic program. I am delighted that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will be more youthful, more urban and will include more women.”
The changes will lead to a net increase of 15 events, with the overall reduction of 285 athletes from the 2016 Rio Games. These changes are in the hopes of increasing gender balance to 50 percent among athletes and events, set by Olympic Agenda 2020. In terms of events in gender balance, four International Federations (IFs) will move to this – Canoe, Rowing, Shooting and Weightlifting. For number of athletes, six IFs will change to gender balance for the first time – Canoe, Judo, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting and Weightlifting.
The move to a more urban and youth-focused agenda begins with the addition of Basketball 3×3 and BMX Freestyle, on top of Sport Climbing and Skateboarding.
Following the review process, the IOC Executive Board decided on the following changes.
Event Additions
- Aquatics (Swimming) – 800m (M) & 1,500m (W), 4x100m Medley Mixed Relay
- Archery – Mixed Team Event
- Athletics – 4x400m Mixed Relay
- Basketball – 3×3 (M/W)
- Boxing – Transfer of two men’s events to two women’s events
- Canoe – Transfer of three men’s events to three women’s events
- Cycling (BMX) – BMX Freestyle Park (M/W)
- Cycling (Track) – Madison (M/W)
- Fencing – Team Events (M/W)
- Judo – Mixed Team Event
- Rowing – Transfer of one men’s event to one women’s event
- Sailing – Transfer of Mixed Multihull to Mixed Foiling Multihull
- Shooting – Transfer of three men’s events to mixed events
- Table Tennis – Mixed Doubles
- Triathalon – Mixed Team Relay
- Weightlifting – Reduction of one men’s weight category
In total, there will be an addition of 15 events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Athletes – Additions, Transfers and Reductions
- Aquatics (Water Polo) – Reduction in Water Polo team size, addition of two women’s Water Polo teams = -18
- Aquatics (Swimming) – Reduction of 22 athletes = -22
- Athletics – Reduction of 105 athletes = -105
- Basketball – Inclusion of 3×3 with 8 teams per gender, +64 athletes (32M/32W) = +64
- Boxing – Transfer of 44 athletes from men to women
- Canoe – Transfer of 55 athletes to reach gender balance
- Cycling (BMX Racing) – Transfer of 8 athletes to reach gender balance
- Cycling (MTB) – Transfer of 8 athletes to reach gender balance in MTB, transfer of 4 male athletes to BMX Freestyle
- Cycling (Road) – Transfer of 14 men to BMX Freestyle
- Judo – Transfer of 38 athletes to reach gender balance
- Rowing – Reduction of 24 athletes and reach gender balance = -24
- Sailing – Reduction of 30 athletes and reach gender balance = -30
- Shooting – Reduction of 30 athletes and reach gender balance = -30
- Weightlifting – Reduction of 64 athletes and reach gender balance = -64
- Wrestling – Reduction of 56 athletes across all disciplines and gender balance in Freestyle Wrestling = -56
The amount of changes being made, equates to a total of 285 athletes that will be cut from the Tokyo Olympic Games that were originally offered in Rio.
Leave a Reply