OlymPicks: IOC Announces 7 New Events to Be Added to Beijing Winter Olympics Roster

OlymPicks is an ongoing blog series whereby we highlight news, gossip, and developments in the buildup to Beijing's 2022 Winter Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Thursday that they will add seven new medal events to the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, according to Xinhua.

Five of the seven events added fall within the International Ski Federation (Fédération Internationale de Ski, FIS) disciplines and include ski jumping (mixed team), freestyle skiing (mixed team aerials), freeski big air (men’s and women’s), and snowboard (mixed team snowboard cross).

As well as the new FIS competitions, the IOC has also added skating short track (mixed team relay) and the bobsled (monobob for women, pictured above) to the roster of events.

READ: Jackie Chan and Lang Lang on Hand for Official Unveiling of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Logos

It is hoped that these new competitions, which take the total number of potential gold medals to 109, will smooth out the Olympic's gender imbalance, taking the total percentage of female athletes to 45.4 (compared to 41.1 percent in Pyeongchang earlier this year). Women's ice hockey teams will also go from an eight-member lineup to 10.

The IOC is also looking to reduce organizational costs at the 2022 Games by inviting 41 fewer athletes to Beijing than the 2,933 competitors in Pyeongchang. Forty-one athletes will be cut in skiing disciplines, 26 from skating, and 20 from biathlon.

The IOC also used the occasion to clarify that no new venues will be built for the games other than those already earmarked to house events.

You can keep up with all the news in the run-up to the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games here.

Image: cbc.ca