The International Cycling Union (UCI) is pleased to announce that the number of female and male cyclists participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics will be equal.
Earlier today, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee held a meeting to discuss and approve the Olympic event plan, confirming this development.
Gender equality is one of the goals of the UCI 2022 agenda, which is a roadmap for the development of cycling in the federation. A total of 514 athletes will participate in the 2024 Paris Cycling Race, with an equal proportion of male and female athletes. This is the first time in the history of the Olympics that our sport has achieved equality, thanks to changes in the quota for cyclists. Gender equality has been achieved in the mountain cycling, small wheel racing, and small wheel freestyle park races of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and now road cycling and track cycling have also achieved gender equality.
The biggest change is in the road cycling event, as some male spots have been transferred to female spots, and the number of spots in this event has slightly decreased. In the 2024 Paris Olympics, 90 athletes of both genders will compete. This is a historic development of the road cycling project, which has been an Olympic sport since the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. The quota allocated to female riders increased from 45 at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (where women's road bikes made their debut) to 67 at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and remained unchanged until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. After reaching a peak of 184 athletes at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the male quota decreased to 145 in 2004 and then to 130 in 2020, achieving equalization ahead of schedule in 2024.
The track cycling race has achieved gender equality, mainly due to the increase of 7 spots in the women's team sprint race, and the number of riders in the women's sprint team has increased from 2 to 3, which is the same as the number of men. Therefore, 95 women and 95 men will participate in the track cycling race of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Like road cycling, track cycling has been an Olympic event since 1896. With the introduction of the women's Madison race at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, gender equality has taken another step forward.
It should be pointed out that the significant progress made in this sport coincides with a decrease in the number of participants in various sports, which is in line with the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee's 2020 Olympic agenda. Therefore, the quota for cycling events at the 2024 Paris Olympics will be reduced by 14, and the quota for road cycling and mountain cycling events will be reduced. The track cycling project will increase one spot, and the small wheeled freestyle park project will increase six spots, which will partially offset the impact of the decrease in cycling spots. The number of athletes participating in the men's and women's freestyle events will increase from 9 to 12.
Cycling is the third largest sport in the Olympic Games, with a total of 22 medal events, including road cycling and track cycling. The former joined Mountain Cycling (XCO) in 1996, the latter joined BMX Racing in 2008, and the latter joined BMX Freestyle Park Racing in 2020. Although the quota has slightly decreased, the situation remains the same. All medal events and cycling events during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were held in Paris.
Male and female cyclists for the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games:
UCI President David Lapartient said, "We are very pleased to achieve the key goals of the 2022 agenda. The gender equality of the 2024 Paris Olympics sends a strong message to our athletes and society as a whole. UCI is committed to achieving policies of equal representation of men and women in the field of competition and governance.". After the introduction of the minimum wage for professional female riders and other developments, this is another significant progress towards fairness for our federation and our sports, and I am particularly proud of it. I would like to thank the International Olympic Committee for its support. At this time, the International Federation must strive to adapt the organization of the Olympic Games to today's needs
As a member of the UCI Management Committee and Chairman of the Athletes Committee, Olympic athlete, and UCI World Championships medalist in off-road and mountain cycling, Katerina Nash said, "The Paris Olympics will be the first time gender equality has been achieved in all events. I have always looked forward to more female participants in the Olympics. I heard that the number of male and female riders in the 2024 Olympics will be equal, which is good news and an important step forward in cycling. We have seen amazing growth in all women's events, and competition is also very fierce. The Olympics can enhance everyone's career, creating more opportunities for those who are currently participating and those who dream of becoming a part of this sport in the future."