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The IOC's determination to create a 50-50 men and women's Olympics continued here on Sunday when the ruling executive board announced an increase in the number of women who will compete in the 2008 Beijing Games.
An extra 128 women athletes will be added to the Beijing programme.
At Athens the ratio between men and women was 42 percent women and 58 percent men.
"But at Beijing we will be much closer the the 50-50 were are striving for," said IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies.
The latest increase in women athletes includes fencing, modern pentathlon, triathlon, and cycling.
The executive board also decided to continue to withhold just over one million dollars from the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) until problems over judging have been sorted out.
Kelly Fairweather, IOC director of sports, said three main issues still needed to be resolved - the judging, the draw for the judges and the selection of judges.
There have been press reports in the United States that boxing could be pulled from the 2008 Games unless a solution to the judging problems is found.
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AFP 051839 GMT 02 06
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