Los Angeles 2028 Olympics - A Revolution for Gender Equality

With a groundbreaking decision from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), for the first time in the history of the world's largest sports event, the number of female athletes will surpass the number of male athletes, accounting for 50.7% of the total number of participating athletes.

The number of female athletes at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will surpass the number of male athletes, accounting for 50.7% of the total number of participating athletes. (Photo: AFP)

The defining factor in this turning point was the IOC’s decision to increase the number of women’s football teams to 16, while cutting the number of men’s teams to 12. This is a complete reversal from the 2024 Paris Olympics in France – when men had 16 teams and women had 12 teams, and for the first time in history, women’s football dominated an Olympic event.

Since women's football debuted at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 (USA) with only 8 teams, the 32-year journey has helped this sport gain a worthy position. Meanwhile, men's football at the Olympics is often overlooked because clubs do not release players, the tournament has an age limit of U23, and many stars such as Kylian Mbappé (France team) have been unable to participate due to transfer reasons.

The special decision - announced by FIFA President Gianni Infantino at a meeting of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) - was officially approved by the IOC at an online meeting on April 9, co-chaired by Kirsty Coventry, the IOC President-elect and who will become the first female leader in the organization's 131-year history next June.

The changes are not limited to football. Many other sports are also being adjusted to ensure gender balance at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, such as women's water polo increasing from 10 to 12 teams, equal to the number of men's teams; women's boxing adding a weight class to match the seven men's weight classes; and the addition of mixed events (men and women competing together) in golf, 4x100m relay (athletics), team artistic gymnastics, archery, table tennis, and shore rowing.

According to the IOC, the 2028 Olympics will have a record 351 medal events, including: 161 women's events, 165 men's events and 25 mixed events.

Another big surprise was the introduction of the 50m event for the first time in Olympic swimming for three swimming styles: backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke, helping the total number of swimming medals increase from 35 sets in Paris 2024 (France) to 41 sets in Los Angeles 2028.

In addition, the aquatics events (artistic swimming, diving, open water swimming, water polo) will have a total of 55 sets of medals, more than any other sport.

President of the International Aquatics Federation (World Aquatics) - Mr. Husain Al Musallam commented: "The inclusion of new events in the Olympics is a testament to the continuous development of aquatic sports on the biggest sports stage on the planet. This is a great opportunity for athletes to demonstrate their diverse talents."

The addition of sports such as cricket, flag football and lacrosse to the programme also contributed to the overall numbers. Despite the slight difference (376 men to 322 women), the 2028 Olympics will still have the highest proportion of women in history, with 5,333 women (50.7%) compared to 5,167 men (49.3%).

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/the-van-hoi-los-angeles-2028-cuoc-cach-mang-vi-binh-dang-gioi-20250411093812625.htm