This week’s IOC Executive Board meeting resulted in several significant decisions that will influence the future of the Olympic Winter Games, Alpes 2030, and the wider Olympic Movement.
The Alpes 2030 Olympic Winter Games will become the first Winter Games to achieve full gender parity, with athlete quota places split equally between women and men. A total of 3,046 athletes will compete across 126 medal events, comprising 56 women’s events, 55 men’s events and 15 mixed events.
As part of its review of the Olympic programme, the IOC Executive Board approved two new disciplines for their Olympic debut in the French Alps: freeride (ski and snowboard) and synchro9 (figure skating). Their inclusion reflects the IOC’s commitment to advancing gender equality, encouraging innovation and engaging younger audiences, while remaining mindful of cost and operational complexity.
Several new events have also been introduced within existing sports, including the mixed singles relay in biathlon, mixed team ski cross in freestyle skiing, mixed team snowboard parallel, the women’s super team event in ski jumping, and men’s and women’s team sprint events in speed skating.
The Executive Board also confirmed that snowboard parallel giant slalom (PGS) will remain on the Alpes 2030 programme, while Nordic combined will not be included. This decision follows the Olympic Programme Working Group’s evaluation of all disciplines against previously agreed assessment criteria.
Collectively, these updates will deliver the most gender-balanced Olympic Winter Games to date, while creating new opportunities for athletes and offering fans more exciting ways to experience winter sport.
Russian Olympic Committee
The IOC Executive Board has provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), following confirmation that the ROC no longer includes regional sports organisations located in territories under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. The ROC has also confirmed that it will not carry out activities in those territories.
With qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and the Winter Youth Olympic Games now underway, the IOC’s previously recommended participation conditions for International Federations and international sports event organisers regarding Russian athletes and teams are no longer in effect.
However, recognising ongoing concerns within the international sporting community about the return of Russian athletes to competition, as well as recent allegations relating to the governance of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), the IOC has stated that all Russian athletes returning to international competition must satisfy all applicable anti-doping requirements. This will remain the case until it is confirmed that the conditions for reinstatement under the World Anti-Doping Code have been fully met.
The IOC also reaffirmed that it will not stage IOC events in Russia or invite Russian government or state officials to IOC events. A decision regarding the use of the Russian flag, anthem, colours or other national identifiers at future Olympic Games will be made at the appropriate time.
The IOC will continue to closely monitor developments and reiterated its solidarity with the Olympic community of Ukraine.
