IOC Rubber-Stamps Beijing 2022 Events Program

(ATR) The IOC has approved seven new events for Beijing 2022, reduced the quota of athletes and improved gender balance for the Games.

Under efforts to add excitement to the Winter Olympics, the sports added are: women’s monobob, mixed team in ski jumping, mixed team aerials in freestyle skiing, mixed team relay in short track speed skating, big air skiing for men and women and a snowboard cross mixed team event.

There are no new sports for Beijing, previously announced. Beijing 2022 organizers didn’t make any proposals for additions to the program.

No new venues or fields of play are needed for the new events.

But to accommodate them cuts have been made in the athlete quotas of several winter sports as part of the IOC’s drive to reduce the total number of athletes to the 2,900 stipulated in the Olympic Charter.

For Beijing 2022, there will be 2,892 athletes participating, down from the 2,933 athletes who took part in the Pyeongchang Games.

IOC sports director Kit McConnell told a press briefing that the approval was part of an "accelerated" review process conducted by Beijing 2022 and international federations: "We decided with the Olympic Program Commission to make decisions as quickly as possible after previous editions of the Games."

"We feel we are really building on a successful event program in Winter Games," he said, claiming IOC triumphs in mixing traditional winter sports and innovative new ones at Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018, and the greater digital engagement with them that had grown the Olympics appeal to a younger generation.

At Beijing 2022, a total of 1,314 women will compete – the highest ever at a Winter Olympics. With 45.4 percent of female athletes at the Chinese Games, the IOC was keen to note the move towards gender balance.

McConnell described the changes as "exciting developments. We have taken a real step forward in Beijing".

The winter sports which have suffered most from the introduction of seven new events and cut in overall athletes quota are: skiing – down 41; a reduction of 26 athletes in skating; and 20 athletes down in biathlon.

McConnell added in a statement: "I am very pleased to see the increase of female athletes, especially in such exciting, ground-breaking events. At the same time, we are sending a message that the size of the Olympic Winter Games is being directly addressed."

Written and Reported by Mark Bissonin Lausanne.

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.