Warming up for the 2012 IOC World Conference on Women and Sport
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the theme of next year’s IOC World Conference on Women and Sport, which is “Together Stronger: The Future of Sport”. The event will take place from 16 to 18 February 2012 in Los Angeles, USA, and is being organised jointly by the IOC, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games.
There is no doubt that women’s participation is key for a healthy society in general, but also for the future of sport. The IOC has made women’s participation in sporting activities and administration one of its major concerns. The participation of women in the Games has increased from 23 per cent in 1984 Los Angeles to 43 per cent at the 2008 Beijing Games. At the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore last summer, 46 per cent of the athletes were girls. With the addition of women’s boxing to the Olympic programme, the 2012 Games in London will have women competing in every sport on the Olympic programme for the first time in history.
