Aurelie Merle, the Executive Director of Sport Competitions for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, is overseeing one of the most challenging roles within the Organizing Committee. In a recent interview with CGTN Sports Scene’s Greg Laffradi, Merle shared insights into the historic milestone of achieving gender parity at the upcoming Games.
For the first time in Olympic history, the Paris 2024 Games will feature an equal number of female and male athletes. This groundbreaking achievement marks a significant evolution since 1900, when women first participated in the Olympics, accounting for only two percent of athletes.
“We’re super proud to be the first Olympic Games to be gender equal in Paris,” Merle expressed with pride. “Having gender equality shows that we have Games in line with our times. But we wanted to go one step further. We wanted to ensure that women’s sports have full visibility, the same as men’s sports.”
With an estimated 10,500 athletes competing in 329 events across 39 sports between July 26 and August 11, 2024, balancing visibility and broadcast time for all events is a formidable task. Merle detailed the collaborative efforts undertaken to ensure equal exposure for women’s events.
“We worked with an expert who helped us determine precisely where to schedule the different women’s events to ensure equal visibility,” she explained. “We collaborated with Olympic Broadcasting Services, French broadcasters, international broadcasters, and international federations. Everyone was committed to making the Paris Games fully gender equal.”
Merle believes that these collective efforts will not only achieve statistical parity but also enhance the prominence of women’s sports. “With everyone around, I think we managed to reach that. There will be some amazing new female events at the forefront,” she concluded.
The Paris 2024 Olympics aims to set a new standard for inclusivity and equality in global sports, reflecting evolving societal values and paving the way for future generations of athletes.
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Paris Games competitions director discusses historic gender parity
cgtn.com