Cover The 2024 Paris Olympics will be the first Olympics achieving full gender parity (Photo: Getty Images)
The 2024 Paris Olympics will be the first Olympics achieving full gender parity (Photo: Getty Images)
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From Pride House to increasing mixed-gender events, these are the ways in which the 2024 Paris Olympics Games have pushed for diversity, equality and inclusion
“Games wide open” is the slogan for the 2024 Paris Olympics and in keeping with that, the organisers have planned several initiatives to make the Games as accessible as they can be for everyone. Of course, no one can forget the refugee team formed in 2016 during the Rio Games, a year that saw nearly 5.2 million refugees risk their lives to reach European shores—this team is back this year. In addition, the Paris Olympics 2024 organisers promise to be as diverse, equal and inclusive as possible—here are five ways in which they are ensuring that.
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1. Full gender parity
The Paris Olympics aims to be the first Olympic Games in history to have the same number of female and male athletes participating. With an estimated 10,500 athletes participating, the organisers have allocated quotas for women and men for the events with 28 out of 32 sports being fully gender-balanced. Not only athlete participation, but the Paris Olympics 2024 has also committed to improving sports coverage of women’s events and balancing the scheduling of “prime-time” sessions.
2. Pride House
Located at the heart of the Paris Olympic games, on a barge along the Invalides harbour in the 7th arrondissement, Pride House is a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. Offering a range of cultural and educational activities, including talks and social events, Pride House marks the first time the International Olympic Committee supports such an initiative promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports. The establishment will also have a mobile unit to visit various Olympic sites during the Olympic and Paralympic games.
3. Mixed gender events
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics had 18 mixed events in disciplines such as athletics, judo, tennis and triathlon. This year, the Games have two more events, namely climbing (mixed team event) and equestrian (mixed team jumping) to the list. The marathon race walk mixed relay has also been introduced this year, replacing the men’s 50km race walk. A few other events have also been adjusted to account for more even representation. In boxing, a women’s weight class was added and a men’s weight class was removed—bringing the classes to 7 for men and 6 for women. In an Olympic first, gender inclusivity will also allow men to participate in artistic swimming.
4. Surfing in Tahiti
Surfing, a discipline that returned this year after making its debut in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will be held in Teahupo’o, on the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia. The decision to hold the competition in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in this overseas French territory—at nearly 16,000km away from Paris—drew controversies but also fulfilled the organisers’ pledge to spread the Games throughout French territory. Building an observation tower—from which the contest could be viewed and judged—over Tahiti’s coral reef evoked concerns from environmentalists but the organisers solved it by settling on a collapsible aluminium structure that can be reassembled when needed for other surfing events.
5. Introducing repechage
All individual track and field events from 200m to 1,500m (including hurdles) will include a round of repechage. What is it? Basically, it means giving a second chance for those who did not qualify for the semifinals of their event in their first attempt—usually the top three in each heat advance to the next round. During the repechage round, athletes who did not end up in the top three have another go to be in the semifinals.
Khoa Tran is Social Impact Editor at Tatler Hong Kong. He covers stories touching on sustainability, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and diversity. Trained as a lawyer, Khoa’s work as a writer had previously touched up topics such as regulatory compliance, ESG, and banking. Outside of the office, he enjoys rock climbing and relaxing in jazz clubs.
