Olympic Programme Commission

The Olympic Programme Commission has the responsibility of analysing the programme of sports for both the Games of the Olympiad and Olympic Winter Games, and forming proposals for consideration by the IOC Executive Board.

Olympic Agenda 2020 noted that “the Olympic programme is the fundamental core of the Olympic Games as decisions regarding the programme have an impact on virtually all other areas of the Olympic Games and Olympic Movement.”

The responsibilities of the Olympic Programme Commission are to:

• Develop a programme that maximises the popularity of the Olympic Games while containing costs and complexity;
• Ensure the Olympic programme remains relevant to young people by ensuring innovation and adapting to modern taste and new trends, while respecting the history and tradition of the sports;
• Thoroughly evaluate the sports and events in close cooperation with the respective International Federations;
• Respect the framework and principles outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendations 9, 10, and 11.

The Olympic Programme Commission is supported by the Sports Department.

The components of the programme are sports and events. An event is a competition in a sport, resulting in a ranking and giving rise to the award of medals and diplomas. The choice of all sports for the programme, as well as the determination of the criteria and conditions for the inclusion of any sport in the programme, falls within the competence of the Session. 

The decision to include an event in the programme falls within the competence of the IOC Executive Board. After each edition of the Olympic Games, the IOC reviews the programme. The inclusion of a sport in the programme of any edition of an Olympic Games shall be decided not later than at the Session electing the host city of that edition of the Olympic Games. 

Under the recommendations of Olympic Agenda 2020, passed unanimously by the IOC Session in December 2014, the IOC will now allow an Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (OCOG) to make a proposal for the inclusion of one or more additional events on the Olympic programme for that edition of the Olympic Games.
The inclusion of events in the programme of any edition of an Olympic Games shall be decided by the IOC Executive Board not later than three years before the opening of the Olympic Games. The deadlines may be waived, in order to allow changes in the programme with the approval of the relevant International Federation, of the OCOG and of the competent organ of the IOC.

28 sports are currently included in the programme of the Games of the Olympiad Tokyo 2020. 

For the Olympic Winter Games, the procedure to be followed will be the same as the procedure applicable to the Games of the Olympiad. Only the number of sports included is different.

Seven sports are currently included in the programme of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. 

Rule 45 of the Olympic Charter provides more information on this topic.

The list of evaluation criteria for the potential addition of new sports under the OCOG proposal will be evaluated according to the following criteria, approved by the IOC Executive Board in June 2015. There are five categories in which the 35 criteria are divided:

1. Olympic proposal
2. Value added to the Olympic Movement
3. Institutional matters
4. Popularity
5. Business model

Important Documents

Olympic Programme Commission Report –  Tokyo 2020 OCOG proposal on new sports

Rio 2016 Olympic Games - International Federations Report

2020 Olympic Games Shortlisted International Federations Report

Evaluation criteria for sports and disciplines - 2012

Evaluation criteria for sports and disciplines - 8 June 2015

2016: Rules of Conduct for the International Federations

Report on the seven sports for the XXIII Olympic Winter Games