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For immediate release, 8 March 2018
With just four weeks to go until the start of Gold Coast 2018, and to mark International Women’s Day, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) today announced that the XXI edition of the Commonwealth Games will be the most gender equal in major multi-sport event history.
Equal Medals for Women and Men
For the first time ever, there will be an equal number of women’s and men’s medal events at a Commonwealth Games. As a core part of the CGF’s far-reaching gender equality strategy, the Federation approved seven additional women’s event categories to the Gold Coast 2018 sports programme to ensure that men and women compete for an equal number of medals (133 women’s events; 133 men’s events; 9 mixed/open events). The strategy, launched at the 2016 CGF General Assembly in Edmonton, Canada, strives to ensure that women and girls are equally represented, recognised and served across all areas of the Commonwealth Sports Movement. It also sets the benchmark for gender equality standards seen anywhere in international sport.
Louise Martin, President of the CGF said: “International Women’s Day is the right time to reflect on how far we have come with gender equality and how far we still have to go to ensure real balance and fairness in both sport and society. The Commonwealth Sports Movement is proud to be setting the pace for equal gender representation and opportunity in sport, by ensuring that an equal number of medals will be up for grabs at Gold Coast 2018 for women and med. With significant steps forward like this, we believe our unwavering commitment to gender equality is a core value that differentiates the Commonwealth Games from any other international sports movement. Indeed, it is our committed work in areas such as gender equality that make the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Sports Movement more relevant than ever before.”