Running News Daily

The deadline to confirm event programs and athlete quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will remain in December this year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) says

This decision follows a recommendation of the Olympic Program Commission, after feedback from athletes, international federations, IOC member associations and the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee.

With the confirmation of the original deadline, December's IOC Executive Board meeting will see decisions made on requests from 20 of the 27 Olympic international federations for changes to the Paris 2024 event program, the IOC said.

In addition, confirmation of the inclusion of the four additional sports proposed by the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee - breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing - will also be determined at December's meeting, having provisionally been approved at the IOC Session in June 2019.

Approval was expected to be given following the sports being monitored over the 18-month period, with the performance of skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing on their Olympic debuts at Tokyo 2020 set to be considered.

But the postponement of the Games to 2021 will see the Executive Board meeting held before the Olympic Games, meaning their performance at Tokyo 2020 cannot be assessed.

Similarly, viewing figures from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will not be able to be considered when assessing disciplines in permanent sports on the program.

The IOC Executive Board has established key principles regarding Paris 2024 events and quotas.

This includes reducing the overall athlete quota to 10,500, including all new sports.

The 10,500 quota is labelled as the maximum in the Olympic Charter, although the IOC acknowledged in 2018 that it was over this amount with around 11,000 athletes due to compete at Tokyo 2020.

The IOC emphasized that new events would only be included if there are existing venues in Paris, with priority given to events that can accommodate athletes within the sport's existing quota allocation.

Achieving gender equality in participation across the Olympic Games at event and discipline level where possible was also listed as a priority.

"The exceptional situation caused by COVID-19 requires exceptional measures," said Thomas Bach, IOC President.

"Therefore, any decision concerning the event program for Paris 2024 should reflect Olympic Agenda 2020, including a new phase of the 'New Norm'.

"The IOC EB has reiterated the vital importance of reducing the cost and complexity of hosting the Olympic Games, particularly concerning venue requirements.

"For the event program, 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."

Dates for the IOC Executive Board meeting in December 2020 are set to be confirmed within the coming months.