The Agenda vol. 70 - Countdown to Paris

Fresh off of a historic national election, Paris is preparing to welcome athletes and spectators from all over the world for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Enthusiasts are hopeful the Games will provide an opportunity for unity and celebration during a time of global unrest. Organizers are looking to highlight the changes they’ve made toward a more progressive and inclusive International Olympic Committee (IOC), such as hosting the first-ever Games to achieve gender parity (with some caveats). This month, a look at the comms around the 2024 iteration of the oldest sporting event in the world.

Making space for motherhood in Olympic Village?

In addition to milestones in gender parity and carbon emissions reduction, the Paris Games will be the first to provide a nursery in the athletes’ village for mothers to spend time with their babies and young children between events and training. Recently retired track athlete Allyson Felix, who sits on the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission, is also the face of a partnership with Pampers to provide the nursery space and keep it stocked with diapers and wipes. Positioning the space as a first step toward making elite competition more accessible to mothers, the partnership announcement has been covered by Fortune, The Washington Post, USA Today, SELF Magazine and more.

Will the Paris Olympics be the friendliest yet for competing moms?

Promoting the world’s first #GenderEqualOlympics

In 2014, the IOC set a goal to achieve gender parity in the Games. Though the Tokyo Games came close, with 48.8 percent women participants, Paris is being lauded as the first Games to meet the goal. #GenderEqualOlympics is an official hashtag, and an updated version of the IOC’s “portrayal guidelines” were developed for media. According to a sports management professor who analyzed events and participants for Euronews, some tweaks have been made to events to facilitate more equal gender representation, but men’s events still outnumber women’s 157 to 152, and women remain underrepresented in coaching and technical roles. It’s also worth noting that discrimination based on hormone levels and the inclusion of transgender athletes remain evolving issues. While the Tokyo Games were the first ever to include transgender athletes, there are more restrictions placed on those competing in Paris.

Celebrating Black women athletes’ hair

After decades of having their hair be the subject of scrutiny and discrimination in athletics and other professional settings, Black women athletes competing in Paris are rejecting the pressure to adhere to white beauty standards and celebrating competition hair that makes them look and feel good. NBC BLK spoke with four Olympic competitors about the importance of representation to the next generation of Black athletes, and how they’ll be wearing and caring for their hair during training and competition.

'Look good, run fast': Black Olympians discuss the importance of their hair

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