Summarised by Centrist
Lawyer and blogger Ani O’Brien writes that the International Olympic Committee’s decision to ban males from female Olympic events is “a landmark moment for fairness and for female athletes everywhere.”
She says, “For years, women have been called bigots for saying what everyone knows to be true. That males have an unfair physical advantage over females in sport. Now, the IOC has finally caught up with reality.”
Citing Save Women’s Sport Australasia, she notes the IOC’s scientific review “unequivocally confirms that physical advantages from being born male persist even after testosterone suppression, rendering fair competition in the female category impossible.”
O’Brien calls the reversal “a victory for science and fairness that has been hard-fought by women around the world,” arguing that “for too long, female athletes have been forced to compete against males under the guise of inclusion.”
She says the same principles “must apply here in New Zealand,” urging the government to “direct all publicly funded sporting bodies to protect the female category” and calling on Sport NZ CEO Raelene Castle to “comply with government instructions or hand in her resignation.”
O’Brien writes, “Every stolen medal, title, and scholarship must be returned to its rightful owner. Every time a male competed in a female category, the outcome was illegitimate.” O’Brien concludes, “Fair play is not bigotry. Protecting the female category is not exclusionary. It’s the foundation of women’s sport itself.”
