More than 40,000 people around the world have urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ensure that “women are not forced to compete against men in future Olympics”.
The petition to “Keep Women’s Sports for Women”, organised by Alliance Defending Freedom, criticised the committee for failing to prevent men from entering women’s sports.
The IOC’s Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination framework allows each sport’s governing body to determine its own eligibility criteria. But it claims there should be “no presumption of advantage” on the basis of biological or physiological characteristics.
Former college swimmer Riley Gaines, who competed against a man known as Lia Thomas, said her “safety and privacy in the locker room was repeatedly jeopardised because of sports bodies which put ideology before women’s rights. I’m one of so many young women that have lost out on medals and opportunities – simply because I wasn’t a male.”
“The IOC is looked upon as a leader on sports policies. It must take heed of this petition, and take a stand for women around the world in protecting our sports – not only for this generation of athletes, but the little girls who one day dream of winning the gold.”
Former Olympian Sharron Davies MBE added: “Women’s sport should never have been sacrificed on the altar of virtue-signalling gender ideology, against all the peer reviewed science in the first place.”
“Let’s hope common sense & prioritising fairness & safety for female athletes will return soon. The willful negligence of the boxing during the Paris 2024 Olympics was a particular low point and a total disgrace.”