Olympics: New sports and mixed gender events to be added to Olympic programme

A woman walks in front of a board showing Olympics rings at the 127th International Olympic Committee session in Monaco. Photo / AP

New Zealand needs to be prepared for new sports and mixed gender events to be added to the Olympic events programme after the IOC unanimously approved a raft of changes in Monaco today.

New Zealand IOC member Barry Maister said niche sports such as skateboarding, climbing and inline skating were likely to appear in the Olympic programme after Tokyo 2020 and New Zealand needs to ensure they are capable of competing in these less traditional events.

"Those sort of sports I think we need to be positioned for," explained Maister.

"We are definitely going to see the Olympic programme change. Now there will be a regular review after every Games and the opportunity to bring new sports in.

"From a New Zealand point of view we have to be vigilant to the fact that new sports are likely to appear and we need to be ready and prepared for those."

Mixed gender events should also become a focus for our competitors as they grow in popularity with Olympic organisers after successful trials at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

"Mixed gender events are something that we could prepare for in New Zealand because there is certainly a trend to encourage sports to give mixed gender," Maister said.

"If you remember the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow there was the mixed triathlon that was being trialled.

"That's going to happen, and likewise variations on traditional games, basketball three on three, hockey five on five. Those things have been looked at critically too.

"From a New Zealand perspective we need to be really mindful of the trends that are happening in world sport and be well positioned so that we are not caught like rabbits in the headlights when changes are made to the programme.

"We need to expect more change to be made on an ongoing basis."

The historic vote also approved changes to make the Olympic bid process more flexible and the establishment of a global Olympic digital channel that will promote sport.

"The most sensitive issue, probably the most challenging issue and the issue we spent the most time on was the IOC TV channel.

"A 24-7 IOC around the world TV channel is an incredibly ambitious undertaking."

Additionally, steps were approved to strengthen the Olympic Movements stand against discrimination in sport with the addition of an anti-discrimination clause on the grounds of sexual orientation to the charter and the IOC membership confirmed that athletes would remain at the heart of the Olympic Movement.