IOC aims for same number of male, female athletes at next Olympics

With record numbers of female athletes competing in the Beijing Olympic Winter Games this year, the International Olympic Committee has set a target of having equal numbers of male and female athletes compete in four years time at the next Winter Games in Milano and Cortina, Italy.

According to the IOC, there are 1,315 female athletes competing at the Beijing Games, accounting for 45 percent of the total 2,902. They are also competing in a record number of women's events, with 53 percent of the events at the Beijing Games featuring female athletes, an increase from 47 percent four years ago in Pyeongchang.

The IOC has set the same goal for the next Summer Games.

"We've set a goal of 50 percent female participation with exactly 5,250 men and 5,250 women taking part in the Paris Games in 2024," said IOC spokesman Mark Adams.

"In regards to the Winter Games coming up in Milano Cortina in 2026, we will also be pushing for equality," he added, at a daily briefing on Monday.

Among the seven new events at the Beijing Games, four of them are mixed team events, boosting female participation.

Adams said involving more mixed team events has sent a signal from the IOC to Olympic committees in all the countries and regions that "they need to build up the capacity of their women's teams".

"And that's very important for bringing forward for individual events as well," he added.

Yang Yang, chairperson of the Athletes' Commission of the Beijing organizing committee, also China's very first Winter Olympic champion, said she wants to encourage more girls to take part in sports.

Yang, who won the gold medal for the women's 500m short track speed skating at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, currently runs a skating club in Shanghai.

"At my club, many young girls participate in sports and I am inspired by them every day.

"I believe in the strength of sports in helping young girls to discover themselves," she added.