New Delhi, March 8: To mark International Women's Day, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on Thursday announced that the 21st edition of the Games will be the most gender equal in the multi-sport event history. For the first time ever, there will be an equal number of women and men's medal events at the Commonwealth Games.

The federation approved seven additional women's event categories for the Gold Coast 2018 sports programme to ensure that men and women compete for an equal number of medals (133 women's events; 133 men's events; 9 mixed/open events).

Louise Martin, President of the CGF said, "International Women's Day is the right time to reflect on how far we have come with gender equality and how far we still have to go to ensure real balance and fairness in both sport and society."

"The Commonwealth Sports Movement is proud to be setting the pace for equal gender representation and opportunity in sport, by ensuring that an equal number of medals will be up for grabs at Gold Coast 2018 for women and men," he added.

Meanwhile, the International Federations for Basketball, Hockey and Swimming have also confirmed that at least 50% of their technical officials presiding over the sporting action will be women.The CGF has also implemented its Women Coaching Internship Programme for Gold Coast 2018.

Under the innovative programme, Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs), in partnership with one of their National Sports Organisations (NSOs), will have the opportunity to fully integrate an aspiring female coach in their Gold Coast 2018 coaching team.