The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved a proposal to expand the women’s soccer tournament from 12 to 16 teams for the 2028 LA Olympics on Wednesday, solidifying the event’s international importance as the women's game continues to see skyrocketing growth.
"We wanted to do something to reflect that growth, and equally with the United States being the home of the highest level of popularity of women's football," IOC sports director Kit McConnell said on Wednesday.
IOC balloons multiple 2028 LA Olympics women's events
Soccer isn't the only women's event expanding, with additional IOC decisions pushing the total number of women athletes participating in the 2028 LA Games over the 50% line.
The women’s water polo field will grow from 10 to 12 teams to align with the men’s competition, while 3×3 basketball will expand its field from eight teams to 12.
Even more, women’s boxing will gain an additional weight category, and the IOC will incorporate new mixed events across several other Olympic sports.
Ultimately, increased parity will only intensify competition, with the IOC making moves to keep the Olympics in line with the continued demand for and rise of women's sports.
"The message of gender equality is a really important one for us," added McConnell.
Zimbabwean swimming legend Kirsty Coventry made history on Thursday, when she became both the first woman and first African ever elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
At 41-years-old, Coventry will also be the youngest president in the organization's 131-year history and the 10th individual to ever hold the office.
"As an nine-year-old girl, I never thought I would be standing up here one day getting to give back to this incredible movement of ours," the five-time Olympian said in her remarks.
An extensive Olympic resume, in and out of the pool
The Auburn University grad and seven-time Olympic medal-winner — including back-to-back golds in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Games — retired from competition after the 2016 Rio Olympics.
At that time, Coventry was already three years into her IOC membership, after initially joining as part of the governing body's Athletes' Commission. She joined the Executive Committee in 2023.
"I will make all of you very, very proud and hopefully extremely confident in the decision you have taken," Coventry said to her fellow members in her acceptance speech. "Now we have got some work together."
That work that awaits Coventry in her eight-year mandate will include navigating the 2028 LA Games and selecting a host for the 2036 Summer Games.
Her first Olympic Games at the helm, however, will be the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, giving her less than a year to prepare before the Opening Ceremony kicks off.
Coventry to continue IOC efforts to promote gender equity
Coventry will have a few months to adjust before assuming her new office on June 23rd, when she will succeed her mentor, 71-year-old Thomas Bach.
Bach will have served the IOC's maximum 12-year tenure in the role when he steps down, having led the governing body to stage the first-ever Olympic Games with equal numbers of women and men competing — a mark captured at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
With gender equity as a driving force in his leadership, Bach also increased the number women serving as both IOC members and in the organization's leadership roles, with women comprising seven of the body's 15-person executive board.
Coventry is one of those seven women, and Bach specifically hand-picked her as his successor.
The legacy she inherits isn't lost on Coventry, both in the efforts of Bach and in the women who paved the way — perhaps none more directly than IOC member Anita DeFrantz, a 1976 Olympic bronze medal-winning rower for Team USA and the only other woman to ever run for IOC president.
Recognizing the election's historic significance, 72-year-old DeFrantz overcame significant health issues to travel to Greece in order to vote for Coventry — with her ballot securing the exact number of votes Coventry needed to win.
"I was really proud that I could make her proud," an emotional Coventry said.
Welcome to the The Gold Standard, hosted by WNBA and Team USA basketball legend Lisa Leslie and NWSL and USWNT great Kelley O'Hara.
In today's final episode, our hosts recap their trip to Paris to see the Summer Games in person! Kelley and Lisa discuss what it was like seeing both the USWNT and USA Basketball win their gold medal matches — plus how it felt to celebrate with the teams at their epic after parties. Later, they wrap up by talking about their favorite Olympic memories from years past.
Watch along for expert insight from gold medalists, exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, and pure enjoyment of the Summer Games.
Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.
Welcome to The Gold Standard, hosted by WNBA and Team USA basketball legend Lisa Leslie and NWSL and USWNT great Kelley O'Hara.
In today's episode, our hosts preview both the USWNT's gold medal match against Brazil and Team USA's Olympic final against France. Later, Kelley and Lisa talk all things track and field with four-time gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross.
Watch along for expert insight from gold medalists, exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, and pure enjoyment of the Summer Games.
Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.
Welcome to The Gold Standard, hosted by WNBA and Team USA basketball legend Lisa Leslie and NWSL and USWNT great Kelley O'Hara.
In today's episode, our hosts recap the USWNT semifinal win over Germany, Team USA's 3×3 basketball bronze, Kevin Durant breaking Lisa's Olympic record, Sha'Carri Richardson's silver medal, and so much more.
Watch along for expert insight from gold medalists, exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, and pure enjoyment of the Summer Games.
Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.
Welcome to The Gold Standard, hosted by WNBA and Team USA basketball legend Lisa Leslie and NWSL and USWNT great Kelley O'Hara.
In today's episode, our hosts recap Trinity Rodman's late winner against Japan, Simone Biles in the all around final, USA Basketball's Olympic run so far, Katie Ledecky's record-breaking performances, and so much more.
Watch along for expert insight from gold medalists, exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, and pure enjoyment of the Summer Games.
Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.
Welcome to The Gold Standard, hosted by WNBA and Team USA basketball legend Lisa Leslie and NWSL and USWNT great Kelley O'Hara.
On today's episode, four-time Olympic medalist Summer Sanders joins us from Paris to talk all things swimming. Our hosts also recap the gymnastics team final, Kelley's love for Olympic Rugby Sevens, the USWNT's win over Germany, Team USA's dominant victory over Japan, Coco Gauff's controversial Singles exit, and much more.
Watch along for expert insight from gold medalists, exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, and pure enjoyment of the Summer Games.
Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.
Welcome to The Gold Standard, hosted by WNBA and Team USA basketball legend Lisa Leslie and NWSL and USWNT great Kelley O'Hara.
Over the next two weeks, Lisa and Kelley will break down all the action of the Paris Games. We kick off the series by discussing some Opening Ceremony memories, the USWNT's win over Zambia, USA Basketball's quest for an eighth-straight gold, and much more.
Watch along for expert insight from gold medalists, exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, and pure enjoyment of the Summer Games.
Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.
Mikaela Shiffrin parted ways with her longtime coach, Mike Day, in the middle of a very successful World Cup skiing season, she announced Wednesday.
But the split didn’t slow her down on the slopes, as she won gold in the giant slalom at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships in France on Thursday.
“It’s been definitely some high levels of stress these days,” Shiffrin said after the win. “It was very, very difficult today to keep the focus and keep the intensity on the right level.”
World championship races are not part of the World Cup season, so Thursday’s gold medal run doesn’t count toward her pursuit of the overall World Cup wins record, though it does make her body of work so far this year even more impressive.
Shiffrin broke the women’s World Cup wins record in January, surpassing the 82-win mark set by fellow American skier Lindsey Vonn. She sits just one victory shy of tying the overall mark of 86 wins set by Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark.
While she still could match or break Stenmark’s record this season, she will do so without Day, who has coached her since 2016.
“After working with Mike Day for seven seasons, I’ve decided to move forward with new leadership on my team for the next phase of my career,” Shiffrin said in a statement released by the U.S. ski team. “I want to thank Mike and acknowledge all of his work and dedication over the last several years.”
The coach had been with Shiffrin when she placed second in a super-G race last week, then went with her to train in Orcières, France. The 27-year-old skier informed Day that she planned to move in a different direction with her coaching staff after the current season, and Day decided to leave immediately — in the midst of the world championships.
“It’s a shock for me that he took off,” U.S. alpine skiing director Patrick Riml told the Associated Press.
Shiffrin is set to race in slalom on Saturday in Meribel, France, as part of the world championships. Her assistant coach, Mark Mitter, remains with her, Riml said.
“We’ve got plenty of people here to support Mikaela and provide the training and the information she needs on race day to do her job,” Riml said. “She’s got great support.”
Three former U.S. Ski & Snowboard team members have sued their former coach, Peter Foley, for sex trafficking and harassment.
The national federation, its former CEO Gale “Tiger” Shaw and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic committee also were named in the lawsuit, which claims Foley, Shaw and the sporting organizations conspired to engage in, enable and cover up repeated acts of sexual misconduct.
Three-time Olympian Rosey Fletcher, 2010 Olympian Callan Chythlook-Sifsof and another former national teamer in Erin O’Malley are the plaintiffs. They claim Foley used his position to “coerce sexual acts through force, manipulation, emotional abuse, intimidation, and retaliation,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed last Thursday in Los Angeles.
“We are aware of the lawsuits that were filed,” a U.S. Ski & Snowboard spokesperson said. “U.S. Ski & Snowboard has not yet been served with the complaint nor has had an opportunity to fully review it.”
The USOPC also had not yet received the complaint as of Thursday and would not comment “on any specific details at this time,” though a spokesperson said the organization “takes every allegation of abuse very seriously.”
The lawsuit comes after three former athletes and a former employee of USSS accused Foley of sexual misconduct last March. Foley already was being investigated for allegations of sexual misconduct that emerged during the Olympics in February.
Fletcher claims in the lawsuit that Foley sexually assaulted her at a U.S. team camp when she was 19 years old. O’Malley says she was “sexually assaulted and harassed at USSS- and USOPC-sponsored competitions by Foley, who exploited their unequal power dynamic,” with the mental and verbal abuse starting when she was just 15 years old.
“Had the USSS taken the safety of their young athletes and employees seriously, Foley’s behavior could have been prevented,” the lawsuit states. “Instead, for nearly twenty years, coaches and executives at USSS enabled Foley’s behavior, refused to act, and helped cover up Foley’s behavior, allowing him to continue his pattern of abuse.”
Chythlook-Sifsof said in a series of Instagram posts during the Beijing Olympics that Foley had “taken naked photos of female athletes for over a decade” and had made a sexually explicit comment about her to another woman in 2014.
She also discussed a separated incident in the lawsuit, revealing that she was “sexually assaulted and raped by a male coach nearly three times her age from an opposing team” when she was 16. That assault took place during her first junior world championship event in Zermatt, Switzerland, in 2005.
“Although it was not a USSS coach that sexually assaulted Callan, USSS set the stage for the assault to occur and failed to change the toxic environment,” the lawsuit reads.
Sex trafficking, while generally understood as the arrangement of sex for money, legally can mean the exchange of sex for “anything of value,” Sigrid McCawley, the lead attorney representing the three snowboarders, told the Los Angeles Times.
“You have athletes who are being promised things like a position in the Olympics, a spot on the team and things of significant value in exchange for participating in this abuse and remaining quiet,” McCawley said. “This is well suited for a [sex trafficking] claim.”