Perurena told the ICF Congress that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was in a "moment of change", before highlighting recent changes to the programme.

He noted the debut of 3x3 basketball and BMX freestyle disciplines at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, as well as the inclusion of additional sports for Paris 2024 with breaking, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing making the Games more extreme in pursuit of younger viewers.

The uncertainty surrounding crisis-hit sports such as boxing and weightlifting was also highlighted, with Perurena concluding that some sports may be taken out of the Olympic Games programme in the future.

Perurena warned the ICF needed to evolve and be ready to respond to any requests from the IOC, such as the decision to propose extreme canoe slalom for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in place of two sprint canoe events.

"We have to evolve," Perurena said. "In Paris organisers wanted to introduce extreme sports, so to do that we had to reduce some disciplines.

"If we talk about baseball/softball with a view to Los Angeles 2028, there would be the need for 100 quotas which would be taken away from other sports that are not appealing.

"We have to be ready to the fact the IOC might ask us to introduce some changes, as has happened in other federations. We cannot lose our quotas and we cannot lose our medals."

Perurena gave a less grave assessment of canoeing’s prospects in an outgoing interview published on the ICF YouTube channel today, despite claiming it is clear in the future there will be many changes to the Olympic programme.

He declared that the sport’s place on the programme is guaranteed having followed the figures from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which placed canoeing in a "high, high position."

A distinction was also drawn between sports and disciplines, with Perurena saying the sport needed to smell what appeals to younger audiences.

"To the IOC the opinion of the group between 18 and 29 is important," he said. "We need to go in this direction. It is stupid to say these are our disciplines, this is good, this is good.

"Finally, I don’t like coming into a situation similar to modern pentathlon," Perurena said, referring to the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) facing a backlash from athletes in removing the riding discipline from the sport this week.

The UIPM has claimed the move is "necessary to save modern pentathlon in the future".

It is worth noting as well that World Rowing President Jean-Christophe Rolland reiterated at their Congress the desire to drop two lightweight rowing categories for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games to add coastal rowing competitions.

The conclusion is that change of some form is coming, with International Federations having to respond to the IOC’s pursuit of younger viewers.

While the likeliest changes may be in disciplines as Perurena suggested, would it be a shock if the IOC opts to replace underperforming sports from the programme entirely?

Boxing and weightlifting have almost volunteered to be a sacrifice in recent years amid a spate of scandals, while there is a view that modern pentathlon’s place on the programme has been protected by its IOC representatives and its Olympic history.

As athletes from the sport have argued, the removal of the riding discipline would be a step away from the Pierre de Coubertin legacy. In short, the sport appears trapped by a need to maintain its history and appeal to the youth of today.

The quest to have youthful eyes watching Olympics has been best displayed through the additional sports at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. For a start, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing will be making their second consecutive Summer Olympic Games appearance in the French capital.

With Los Angeles and Brisbane the next two destinations, the sports seem primed for further appearances in the future.

How many guest appearances would one have to make before they can be considered a regular?

This was a question posed when the additional sports for Paris 2024 were approved back in 2019, with International Federations unsurprisingly not shy in declaring their ambitions for permanent status.

“We will add a lot of value, we will connect to some groups and demographics that maybe were not as deeply touched by the Olympic Movement,” International Surfing Association President Fernando Aguerre said at the time. “The day after the vote in Rio, I said to Thomas Bach ‘we are here to stay’”.

“We qualified for the quarter-final in Rio, we’ve qualified for the semi-final in Paris and, of course, our aspiration is to be in the final,” International Sport Climbing Federation President Marco Scolaris joked.

IOC sport director Kit McConnell acknowledged at the same press conference that the package of sports had begun to have continuity, adding that the organisation had time to assess the sport programme for Los Angeles 2028.

Mirroring the comments of Perurena today, McConnell said the IOC would also drill down on data from Tokyo 2020 which would guide International Federations and form part of the analysis undertaken by the IOC Programme Commission.

At the time the Los Angeles 2028 programme was due to be set in 2021, which understandably seems to have taken a backseat amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given the comments made by International Federations at their Congresses, the impression is that an update may not be too far away.

IOC President Thomas Bach has issued the call "change or be changed" on many occasions in the past.

With Bach now in his final term and leading a compliant membership, I wonder whether the federations who have failed to change might find themselves changed for Los Angeles 2028 as the IOC goes in search of that crucial youth market.