The International Olympic Committee (IOC)âs Executive Board (EB) agreed during a virtual meeting to maintain the previously set deadline of December 2020 to confirm the event programme and athlete quotas for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, including consideration of the events in the four additional sports proposed by the Organising Committee.
This decision is based on the recommendation of the Olympic Programme Commission (OPC) after receiving feedback from the athletes, International Sports Federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and Paris 2024.
The IOC EB underlined that the decision should be based on the following previously established key principles:
– Reducing the overall athlete quota (including for all new sports) to 10,500;
– Achieving gender equal participation across the Olympic Games at event and discipline level where possible;
– Prioritising new events that accommodate athletes within the sportâs existing quota allocation; and
– New events only if there are existing venues.
âThe exceptional situation caused by COVID-19 requires exceptional measures. Therefore, any decision concerning the event programme for Paris 2024 should reflect Olympic Agenda 2020, including a new phase of the âNew Normâ. The IOC EB has reiterated the vital importance of reducing the cost and complexity of hosting the Olympic Games, particularly concerning venue requirements,â said IOC President Thomas Bach. âFor the event programme, we have maintained the December 2020 deadline, even though new sports can now not be tested on the Olympic stage, but we need to give certainty to the concerned athletes, their NOCs and Federations and the Organising Committee.
With the confirmation of the original deadline, Decemberâs IOC EB meeting will now see a decision made on requests from 20 of the 27 Olympic International Federations for changes to the Paris 2024 event programme.
In addition, confirmation of the inclusion of the four additional sports proposed by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee â breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing â will also be determined at Decemberâs meeting, having provisionally been approved at the IOC Session in June 2019.Â
The timeline was originally approved by the IOC EB in June 2017. It aligned with the original dates for Tokyo 2020, and was compliant with Rule 45 of the Olympic Charter. However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to 2021, it was necessary for the OPC to review the timeline in case changes needed to be made. The review considered the impact on and feedback from key stakeholders, including the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, IFs, NOCs and, of course, the athletes.
Following this feedback, the OPC decided to propose to the IOC EB that the original deadline be maintained in order to provide certainty to all the involved parties, so that they could plan accordingly. This will help athletes to prepare and secure funding from the appropriate bodies, while Paris 2024, IFs and NOCs will be able to advance with their venue, financial, and logistical planning.
The dates for the IOC EB meeting in December 2020 will be confirmed within the coming months.