Grace Luczak had left competitive rowing and taken a job. But a move toward gender equity at the Tokyo Olympic Games brought her back into the boat. This year, a woman’s rowing event was added to make sure that there is an equal number of men’s and women’s sports at the Olympics. That change meant four additional spots on the U.S. team and a place for Luczak. The rower said it was hard to make the decision to go back to the sport and leave her job for a year. She did not think it was possible until more seats were added. “There are four more seats,” Luczak said. “Four. And it’s the first gender-equal Olympics. How can you not try? Most of the public attention goes to big sports like gymnastics, swimming and track and field. But women from smaller sports that are less popular are now being recognized and given a chance to compete in the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee, or IOC, added 18 new events to the Tokyo Games in a push toward gender equity. There are an equal number of women and men for every sport, aside from baseball and softball because of different team sizes. The IOC said 49 percent of athletes in Tokyo are women. That is up from 45 percent at the last Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The IOC said that when women began competing in the 1900 Paris Olympics, there were only 22 out of 997 total athletes. “Tokyo 2020 is predicted to be the most gender equal yet with female participation,” the IOC said.