The IOC said the reason for the sharp increase in women's soccer teams was the rapidly growing popularity of women's team sports, especially in the United States, and that change in the competition format reflected that rapid growth.
Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry became the first woman and African to be elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday, saying it was an "extraordinary moment".
Seven heavyweight candidates are vying to become the most powerful person in sport, a post 71-year-old Bach has held for 12 years.
North Korean Olympians have not received Samsung smartphones, unlike athletes from other countries, the IOC told AFP on Thursday, hours after Seoul suggested that providing them the phones could violate UN sanctions against the nuclear-armed North.
"We are talking about women's boxing. We have two boxers who were born as women, raised as women, who have passports as women and who have competed for many years as women and this is a clear definition of a woman," Thomas Bach told a press conference.
The introduction of new sports and more urban and visually spectacular venues are necessary to attract younger audiences to secure the Olympic Games' survival, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Tuesday.
The head of the Palestine Olympic Committee criticised "double standards" from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday over its decision to allow Israel to compete at the Paris Games.
The scenario raises questions about the selection process and effectiveness of the scholarship programme in improving athletes' performance on the global stage.
Afghanistan's Taliban government does not recognise the three female athletes who will represent the country at the Paris Olympic Games this month, a spokesman for their sports department said.
International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach demands a sweeping overhaul of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as Russian appeals against bans mounted just three days from the opening of the Rio Games.
Russian appeals against Olympic bans are piling up as IOC president Thomas Bach slams what he calls the "contemptuous" doping system blamed on the Moscow government.
Russian swimmers Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev have been cleared to compete at the Rio Olympics, their representatives said Tuesday, though there was no official confirmation.
The international sports tribunal will decide appeals by Russian athletes against their ban from the Rio Olympics with the opening ceremony just four days away.
The International Olympic Committee says a three-member panel will make the "final decision" on which Russian athletes can compete in the Rio Games.
A three-member International Olympic Committee (IOC) panel will have the final say on which Russian athletes can compete at the Rio Games, reviewing all decisions taken by the international federations, the IOC said on Saturday.
Russia's sports minister says that the national team to compete in the Rio Olympics starting next week so far has 266 competitors.
Australia's Olympic delegation head Kitty Chiller questions Russia's determination to eliminate drug cheats.
The International Olympic Committee's decision to reject calls to ban all Russian competitors from the Rio Olympics could lead to "lesser protection for clean athletes," the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says..
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) fails to demonstrate strong leadership on a sad day for clean sport when it declines to ban Russian athletes from the Rio Olympics, anti-doping officials say.
