Over 50 per cent of the athlete quota spots for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles will be given to women, meaning female athletes will be the majority at an Olympics for the first time.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed there would be 5,333 core quota spots for female athletes (50.7 per cent) and 5,167 for men.
The reason for this landmark announcement stems from an increase in the women’s football tournament, which the IOC expanded to 16 teams (up from 12), while the men’s competition will shrink from 16 to 12 teams.
“This programme really gives a powerful platform and promotion of female athletes for the first time in Olympic history,” IOC sports director Kit McConnell told a press conference.
Women’s football has long been a major part of the international Olympics calendar, whereas the men’s football has often paled in comparison to the FIFA World Cup. The men’s tournament at the Olympics is limited to a majority under-23 squad, with only three over-age players permitted per squad, and the women’s teams usually appear at full strength.
The IOC said the increase in women’s football teams was due to the rapidly growing popularity of women’s sport, especially in the US.
“We wanted to do something to reflect that growth and equally with the United States being the home of the highest level of popularity of women’s football,” Kit McConnell said, noting that the IOC had consulted LA28 and FIFA over the increase in women’s teams.
“There’s the Club World Cup this year, the men’s football World Cup next year, just two years after that both the men’s and women’s Olympic tournaments and then discussions about further women’s tournaments beyond that, so it really fits into a wider and hugely-exciting package of football in the US over the coming years and starting this year.”
“The message of gender equality is a really important one for us,” she said.
Two more women’s teams were also added in water polo, in order for the sport to gain parity with the men’s even at 12 nations each. Boxing will have one extra women’s weight class to equal the men’s line-up of seven medal events as well.
Become a Women’s Agenda Foundation member and support our work! We are 100% independent and women-owned. Every day, we cover the news from a women’s perspective, advocating for women’s safety, economic security, health and opportunities. Foundation memberships are currently just $5 a month.
Bonus: you’ll receive our weekly editor’s wrap of the key stories to know every Saturday.