Olympics Camera Operators Instructed to Avoid Filming Women in a 'Sexist' Manner.

The official Olympics broadcaster has urged camera operators to film male and female athletes in the same manner to prevent "stereotypes and sexism" from influencing the coverage, its CEO said on Sunday. The Paris Olympics are the first in the 128-year history of the modern Games to achieve gender parity among athletes, with women's sports also receiving more prime-time broadcast slots to enhance their visibility.

With the Games well underway, the head of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) announced that the organization had updated its guidelines for camera operators, most of whom are men. OBS is responsible for the television coverage of the Olympics, and its footage is distributed to rights holders worldwide.

"Unfortunately, in some events, women are still being filmed in a way that reveals that stereotypes and sexism persist, even in the way some camera operators frame male and female athletes differently," chief executive Yiannis Exarchos told reporters in Paris. "Women athletes are not participating because they are more attractive or sexy; they are there because they are elite athletes."

Exarchos noted that the issue mainly stems from "unconscious bias," with camera operators and TV editors tending to show more close-up shots of women than men.

Olympics organizers in Paris have implemented several scheduling changes to promote women's sports. For instance, the women's marathon is set to be the final event of the Games, replacing the traditional men's race in that spot.

"The schedules of sporting events have traditionally been biased towards highlighting men's events," Exarchos explained. "Typically, in team sports, you have the women's finals first, followed by the men's finals. In strength and combat sports, women's competitions are usually held in the morning, with men's competitions in the afternoon."

Marie Sallois, director responsible for gender equality at the International Olympic Committee, stated that the Paris Games are "de facto the world's largest platform to promote gender equality in and through sport." She highlighted "symbolic moments" from the opening ceremony on Friday, where nearly all delegations had both a male and a female flag bearer, and the artistic show honored influential women in French history.

When the concept of the ancient Greek Olympics was revived by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin in the late 19th century, it was envisioned as a celebration of gentlemanly athleticism "with female applause as its reward." In 1924, the last time the Olympics were held in Paris, only four percent of the competitors were women, and they were limited to sports deemed "suitable" for them, such as swimming, tennis, and croquet.