As part of its Agenda 2020, the IOC has sought gender balance in number of athletes and medal events. Among the avenues to attaining that goal is adding more mixed-gender events to the Olympic program. There are 18 mixed-gender events at the Tokyo Games, including high-profile relays in swimming and track and field. That's up from nine such events at the Rio Games in 2016. According to the IOC, almost 49% of the athletes in Tokyo are women.
Seeking gender balance, the Olympics add more mixed-gender events
High-profile relays featuring men and women in track and swimming become part of the program at the Tokyo Games.
July 19, 2021 at 5:03PM
Here are the new mixed-gender events this summer. (All times Central.)
Swimming: The mixed 4x100-meter medley relay features two men and two women from each country. Lakeville's Regan Smith, a top backstroker, is a candidate to compete in this relay. The final is scheduled for July 30 at 9:43 p.m.
Track and field: The mixed 4x400-meter relay has two men and two women from each country, racing in any order the team prefers. The U.S. is expected to favored in the final, scheduled for July 31 at 7:35 a.m.
Triathlon: Four members of a relay team, alternating woman-man-woman-man, each compete in a shorter version of a triathlon known as super sprint (300-meter swim, 7-kilometer bike ride and 2K run). France has won the last three world championships in the mixed event, which will be held July 30 at 5:30 p.m.
Archery: The mixed event uses a match-play format with teams of one man and one woman. South Korea has dominated this event since it was added to the world championship program in 2011. The Olympic archery competition opens with the mixed team event on July 23.
Judo: For the new mixed team event, three men and three women represent their country. Each matchup of the 12-team tournament (July 30, 9 p.m.) features six individual bouts by weight class, where the winner of each bout will be awarded one point. Japan has won the gold medal in the mixed team event at the last four world championships.
Shooting: The men's prone rifle, free pistol and double trap events were cut from the program and replaced by mixed team events in air pistol (July 26, 9 p.m.), air rifle (July 27, 1:15 a.m.) and trap (July 30, 11:30 p.m.), where one man and one woman compete for a combined score.
Table Tennis: Mixed doubles has been part of the table tennis world championships since 1926, but makes its Olympic debut this year with 16 teams in a single-elimination tournament that begins July 23 and ends with the gold-medal match July 26 at 7 a.m.
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