Tokyo Games poised to be ‘most gender equal’ Olympics yet, IOC says

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said the upcoming Tokyo Games will be the “most gender equal” Olympics yet, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The IOC added 18 new sporting events for the Games, which have equal participation from men and women. The new sporting events include baseball and softball, karate, skateboarding, sports climbing and surfing.

The committee said that women’s participation is expected to be 49 percent this year, which is up from 45 percent at the Rio Games in 2016, according to the AP.

This comes as the weightlifting, boxing and canoeing competitions had to drop some male teams to have an equal number of women in the events. 

Rifle sporting events are also transitioning to team events as men’s prone rifle, free pistol and double trap were dropped by the committee, the AP reported. 

Grace Luczak, who left competitive rowing to work at a private sector company, told the news agency that it was a hard decision to come back to compete, adding that she knows she will benefit from the new rules at her counterparts’ expense. 

“It’s not great when you have to take something away from the men’s side to add to the women’s. It’s never fun seeing people find out their opportunity is gone,” Luczak said. “But in creating an equal number of opportunities, it shows there is a pathway for female athletes.”

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Maggie Steffens noted the ongoing issue of gender inequality at the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments was an “eye-opener,” saying that some women’s sports get better treatment than others, the AP reported. 

“For it to all come out and see it from the athletes’ point of view, for what people don’t see to now be visible, maybe it showed that women can get it done. We don’t need all the fancy stuff, we don’t care. We’ll do it anyway,” Steffens said. 

This comes as the head of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said the committee hasn’t ruled out canceling the event if COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the country. 

Team USA has seen prominent stars such as Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal, tennis star Coco Gauff and WNBA’s Seattle Storm forward Katie Lou Samuelson dropping out of the games due to COVID-19 positive tests and health and safety protocols.