Yes, Men Can Compete in Artistic Swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics
According to NBC Olympics, the new rules now say that “up to two men per country may compete in the team competition, which features teams of eight athletes.”
The rule change to the synchronized swimming competition was first reported by the Associated Press back in July 2023 at the World Aquatics Championships.
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“I think it’s a huge opportunity for the sport to grow and attract more men,” American synchronized swimmer Bill May told the AP at the World Aquatics Championships in 2023. “By keeping men out you’re limiting the sport. By including men you’re going to see an upshift in the popularity and the numbers.”
The sport was first introduced as synchronized swimming at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 and only allowed women to be a part of the team. Men are already permitted to compete in the lower level competitions for artistic swimming, but previously had been shut out from earning a spot on the Olympic team.
“There has always been that misconception that it’s a female-only sport, or that it’s for wimps, or that it’s not a difficult sport,” May continued. “Anyone that has anything negative to say about the sport — boy, female, anyone. Just try it and you’ll know it’s the most difficult sport in the world.”
However, even with the new rule change, no men were selected for any of the artistic swim teams and they will not compete at the Paris Games.
“World Aquatics is very disappointed that no male artistic swimmers have been selected for Paris 2024,” World Aquatics governing body said in a statement, per the AP. “This should have been a landmark moment for the sport [and] all of us in the artistic swimming community need to work even harder to progress opportunities for male athletes in the sport.”
Despite the artistic swimming teams not including men, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed in March 2023 that the 2024 Paris Games will be the first time the Olympics will “achieve numerical gender parity.”
The IOC confirmed that “out of the 10,500 athletes participating in the Games, 5,250 will be men and 5,250 women.”
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