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WATCH | The Olympians: Women's water polo: It's still two shy of the men's tournament, but a win for the women's movement. In water polo, two additional teams were added, for a total of 10. The new opportunities come in several sports and several sizes: Great Britain, for example, is sending more women than men to the Olympics for the first time. "Tokyo 2020 is predicted to be the most gender equal yet with female participation," the IOC said. Those pioneers competed across five sports, among them croquet and equestrian. The committee also noted that when women made their Olympic debut at the Paris Games in 1900, there were only 22 females out of 997 total athletes. The IOC said women's participation in Tokyo will be 49 per cent, up from 45 per cent at Rio, a nearly even split with the men. There are an equal number of women and men for every sport, excluding baseball and softball because of differing roster sizes.
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The International Olympic Committee added 18 new events to the Tokyo Games in a push toward gender equity. Most of the public attention goes to the big sports - gymnastics, swimming, track and field - but away from the spotlight, women from niche sports are being recognized and given an Olympics chance. And it's the first gender-equal Olympics. She thought a second consecutive Games wasn't possible for a veteran until the seats were added. "It's really hard to make the decision to come back, to plan financially to be out of work for a year," Luczak said. Grace Luczak had left competitive rowing and taken a job in the private sector when a move toward gender equity at the Tokyo Olympics lured her back into a boat.Ī women's rowing event was added to create a more inclusive Olympics, which meant four additional seats on the U.S.