Syracuse media library

The Olympic programme has changed considerably since the first Games of the modern era in 1896. While the programme for the very first Summer Games included nine sports and 43 events, the Rio Games featured 306 events across 28 sports. This is not a fixed number: through Olympic Agenda 2020, more flexibility is afforded to Host Cities and International Sports Federations (IFs) in order to introduce innovation, sustainability and increase gender balance. The Winter Games programme has also evolved since 1924; there were 16 events at the first edition, while in PyeongChang there will be 102.

Today, the programme is reviewed after each edition of the Games. The Olympic Programme Commission is responsible for carrying out this process. Made up of IOC members, and representatives from the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the International Federations (Ifs), and the athletes, the Commission analyses the sports and events to be included on the Olympic Games programme. The Commission submits its recommendations to the IOC Executive Board and presents reports to the IOC Session.

With the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020, the process of establishing the Olympic programme changed in order to enhance the popularity of the Games while ensuring that the numbers of athletes, and the cost and complexity of the event, remain manageable. As part of this new process the Organising Committees of the Olympic Games (OCOGs) now have the opportunity to propose (only for their edition of the Games) additional events in new sports not included in the Olympic programme but popular in their country. The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee was the first OCOG able to propose and include five new sports for the next edition of the Summer Games.

You will find all the details concerning  the current process of establishing the Olympic programme, and which starts 7 years out from every edition of the Games, into the Factsheet on the Olympic programme. We also encourage you to have a look at the document Olympic Agenda 2020, and in particular the Recommendations 9 and 10, that reflect the current cap to the overall size of the Olympic Games and the Winter Games, in order to help control cost and complexity. Finally, since their creation in 2010, the Youth Olympic Games have contributed to the Olympic programme as a testing ground for IFs to proposed new events and try out new competition formats. 

In this ZOOM IN page, we have compiled a series of official and academic publications to help you understand and research further into this complex subject, whether you’re interested in one particular sport or edition of the Games, or in the evolution of the programme. We encourage you to check out the useful links provided, where you will find plenty of information about the forthcoming editions of the Games. The selection below also includes two other components of the Olympic programme: demonstration sports and art competitions. The latter formed part of the Olympic Games from 1912 to 1948, and were part of the original intention of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games.