Online Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S Kirsty Coventry, who is one of the candidates running for the International Olympic Committee presidency, has backed a blanket prohibition for so-called transgender athletes participating in events against members of the opposite sex.
Coventry, a decorated former Olympian, is in favour of a blanket ban on transgenderism at the Olympics, according to a report from UK’s The Telegraph.
“Protecting the female category and female sports is paramount — it’s a priority that we collectively come together,” Coventry said.
“There is more and more scientific research. We are not having a conversation about how it is detrimental to men’s sport. That, in itself, says we need to protect women’s sport.”
Coventry, who has won seven Olympic medals in swimming, including two gold medals, said:
“It is very clear that transgender women are more able in the female category, and can take away opportunities that should be equal for women.”
Coventry has witnessed firsthand the disaster that can emerge from allowing men to compete against women, particularly in sports with more physical contact.
She helped to preside over the Paris Olympics, where boxing athletes Lin Yu-ting and Imane Khelif won gold, even though they had previously been deemed ineligible for boxing against women by the International Boxing Association.
Coventry said that “lessons are always going to be learnt – Paris is definitely one of those times.”
“I don’t believe that this is something in hindsight that we could have predicted because these boxers had bouts against each other and there hadn’t been previous issues,” she claimed.
“When you have such a sensitive issue being put on the global stage you have to make sure that the athletes are being protected — that their rights are being heard — and that they are being protected on both sides,” Coventry added.
Though she may not be a conservative stalwart on this issue, at least she is willing to have a ban.
And the next location of the summer Olympics may not hurt her chances. Los Angeles will welcome athletes for the Summer Games in 2028.
President Donald Trump, who broadly opposes men in women’s sports, will still be the commander-in-chief. — westernjournal.com/Sports Reporter.
