Brisbane 2032 Coordination Commission chair Kirsty Coventry is heading up the IOC's new Games Optimisation Working Group ©Getty Images

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board has approved the creation of a Games Optimisation Working Group, chaired by Kirsty Coventry and aiming to adapt the organisation of the Olympics to "modern times" and financial challenges.

The establishment of a Games Optimisation Group had been recommended in the IOC Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commission's final report to the Session in May.

Chair of the Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commission and IOC vice-president John Coates is among the members of the new Working Group, as revealed by IOC President Thomas Bach today.

He is joined by Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant, Sari Essayah and Nicole Hoevertsz, who are chairing Coordination Commissions for Paris 2024, Milan Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028 respectively.

Representatives from various Organising Committees, Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations President Ivo Ferriani and his Association of Summer Olympic International Federations counterpart Francesco Ricci Bitti are also on the Working Group.

They are joined by representatives from National Olympic Committees, the International Paralympic Committee, media partners, press, members of The Olympic Partners programme and officials from the IOC's Olympic Games department.

Overseeing the Group as chair is Coventry, who chairs the IOC's Coordination Commission for Brisbane 2032.

Two "working streams" have been established for the Optimisation Working Group, covering what is applicable for every edition of the Olympics and more Games-specific issues.

Bach said that this aimed "to make the Games more feasible, more sustainable and more modern for the best athletes of the world to shine."

The Working Group aims to help adapt the organisation of the Olympics to economic challenges, with Paris 2024 facing inflationary pressures ©Getty Images
The Working Group aims to help adapt the organisation of the Olympics to economic challenges, with Paris 2024 facing inflationary pressures ©Getty Images

It seeks to "adapt the organisation of the Olympic Games to modern times to our challenges, in particular on the financial and economical side, but also to make them even younger, to make them more digital."

The Working Group has held its first meeting, in which Bach claimed participants were "very satisfied", and the gathering had yielded some "concrete results in one respect or the other."

Paris 2024 is among the Organising Committees facing financial challenges amid significant rises in inflation across Europe, and its President Tony Estanguet has admitted "we are going to think outside the box, be flexible and get those creative juices flowing so that we can optimise the costs."

Bach argued that Paris 2024 will "greatly benefit" from the efforts of the Games Optimisation Working Group.

"This Working Group will play an important role to keep Paris on track, because they are on track and they are on a very good track," the IOC President said.

"We enjoy a very close cooperation with them in every respect, also when it comes to the optimisation.

"Optimisation must happen without giving up on the ambitions we together, Paris and the IOC, have for these Games."