Speaking for the first time since announcing her intention to run for president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Sebastian Coe said the protection of women’s sport is “non-negotiable”.
Coe, a two-time Olympic champion who chaired the 2012 London Games and is currently president of World Athletics, has held positions on doping, bans from entering Russia and the protection of female athletes and the women’s category. We have negotiated difficult issues.
talk to sky sports news, Coe said he was more prepared to take over as IOC president, a position held by Thomas Bach for the past 10 years, than any previous job.
The other six candidates are Spain’s Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., France’s David Lapartiento, Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry, Japan’s Morinari Watanabe, Sweden’s Johan Eliash and Jordan’s Faysal Al.・He is Prince Hussein.
If Mr. Koh wins the election next March, he will face many challenges. As president of World Athletics, the biggest Olympic sport, he has publicly addressed many controversial issues, the most talked about of which was the protection of the women’s category.
World Athletics is in the position of banning transgender athletes from competing in the women’s division at international competitions. We also have a clear eligibility policy for athletes with DSD (Differences in Sexual Development).
Apart from the competition, the 2024 Paris Olympics was dominated by a controversy surrounding the eligibility of two female boxers. Algerian Imane Kherif and China’s Lin Yuting allegedly failed the 2023 gender test, but no evidence was provided or provided to support the claim.
Some false headlines suggested that the boxers were transgender athletes – despite both being born female and classified as female on their passports. However, the altercation was controversial and focused attention on debates over qualifications and the classification of women.
“Protecting the category of women is completely non-negotiable,” Koh said.
“If we don’t protect the category of women in sports, women’s sports will be lost. I’m not ready to do that.”
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Sky Sports’ Geraint Hughes reports on Imane Kherif’s gold medal win in August, when the Algerian defeated China’s Yang Liu in the Olympic final.
Kerif competed in a women’s welterweight tournament in Paris amid controversy after the International Boxing Association (IBA) announced that an Algerian fighter had been disqualified from last year’s world championships for not meeting gender eligibility criteria. The athlete won the gold medal.
The 25-year-old has filed a legal complaint with French authorities over online abuse and harassment she suffered during the Games, and the IOC also took action in early November over new reports that surfaced in France. announced that they are teaching. , allegedly detailing her leaked medical records.
He also said he was “saddened” by the mistreatment Kherif had suffered since appearing in Paris.
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Olympic boxing champion Imane Kerif speaks out for the first time since filing her lawsuit, saying she is “hurt” by the harassment she has received on social media amid controversy over eligibility.
Kerif has participated in women’s boxing in recent years, including at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.
The IBA was stripped of its recognition by the IOC last year over governance failures. In other words, it was the IOC that ran the Paris Olympic boxing tournament and set the criteria for participation.
“In a way, it doesn’t matter how I feel. If you ask me about it, I felt very uncomfortable about it,” Coe said of the incident.
“I have worked for the British Boxing Board of Control for six years and have a daughter.
“What I felt more fundamentally was that it is absolutely important that we have clear policies as an organization.
“It is up to the international federations to decide what is in the best interests of their sport, but I think the IOC has a great opportunity to be in pole position when it comes to thought leadership and landscape shaping in sport. I think a clear policy is absolutely necessary.
