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In the history of the Summer Olympics, the share of events for women athletes has grown gradually; from no events at all in 1896, to a 51.3 percent share in 2020. Growth was gradual and slow, crossing the 25 percent mark in 1984, and exceeding 50 percent in 2020. It is important to note, however, that a number of these events are mixed, for both male and female competitors, and the total number of single-gender events remains slightly higher for men. The majority of sports have mirrored events for male and female competitors, and there had been an increased number of mixed events in recent years, with a particularly high number of mixed events added in Tokyo 2020.

Distribution of events for male and female athletes at the Summer Olympics from 1896 to 2020

Characteristic	Male*	Female (and mixed)
Athens 1896	100%	0%
Paris 1900	97.9%	2.1%
St. Louis 1904	96.9%	3.1%
London 1908	96.4%	3.6%
Stockholm 1912	95.1%	4.9%
Antwerp 1920	94.9%	5.1%
Paris 1924	92.1%	7.9%
Amsterdam 1928	87.2%	12.8%
Los Angeles 1932	88%	12%
Berlin 1936	88.4%	11.6%
London 1948	86%	14%
Helsinki 1952	83.2%	16.8%
Melbourne 1956	82.8%	17.2%
Rome 1960	80.7%	19.3%
Tokyo 1964	79.8%	20.2%
Mexico City 1968	77.3%	22.7%
Munich 1972	77.9%	22.1%
Montreal 1976	75.3%	24.7%
Moscow 1980	75.4%	24.6%
Los Angeles 1984	71.9%	28.1%
Seoul 1988	69.6%	30.4%
Barcelona 1992	66.5%	33.5%
Atlanta 1996	64.2%	35.8%
Sydney 2000	60%	40%
Athens 2004	58.5%	41.5%
Beijing 2008	57.9%	42.1%
London 2012	53.6%	46.4%
Rio 2016*	52.6%	47.4%
Tokyo 2020*	48.7%	51.3%

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Release date

2021

More information

Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

1896 to 2021

Supplementary notes

*The number of male events was calculated by subtracting the number of female events from the total number of events. Mixed events are generally included with the data for female events, however there may be some overlap (particularly in earlier years).

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