British athlete and sports administrator Sebastian Coe has promised an “uncompromising and clearcut policy” to protect women’s sports in his bid to become the next president of the International Olympic Committee.
While Coe did not outright say that he would hope to ban men who identify as transgender women from playing in women’s categories, he did say that if women’s categories are not protected, then “it will not end well for women’s sports,” The Guardian reported.
Coe ran the London Olympics in 2012 and is also a double gold medalist in track and field. He won the top medal in the 1500 meter in 1980 and 1984 and two silvers in the 800 meter in those same years.
The Brit promised not to be a “vanilla” president if he won the election and vowed to make the IOC more democratic.
But it is his stance on the transgender issue that has the media’s tongues wagging.
This week, Coe told the BBC that “the protection of the female category … is absolutely non-negotiable” and added that “if you’re not prepared to do that … then you really will lose female sport.”
As the Guardian noted, he also told reporters that the current IOC guidance on transgender athletes is too ambiguous.
“It has to be a clearcut policy, and International Federations must have some flexibility,” Coe explained. “But it is incumbent on the IOC to create that landscape. It’s a very clear proposition to me – if you do not protect [the female] category, or you are in any way ambivalent about it for whatever reason, then it will not end well for women’s sport. I come from a sport where that is absolutely sacrosanct.”
The issue exploded into controversy this year when the IOC allowed two boxers to compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris despite that both failed gender tests and were allegedly found to have XY chromosomes. Unsurprisingly, both tore through their biologically female opponents to take top medals in the sport.
Another policy Coe hopes to be able to implement is to institute cash prizes for athletes across the board. This year, World Athletics introduced a $50,000 prize for gold medallists in Paris, and Coe wants to expand that idea.
“I have always talked about the wherewithal and the wellbeing of the athletes and giving them financial skin in the game. I think that can be done in a way that is respectful of the Olympic philosophy, but I have to accept we’re in a different landscape,” he said.
Coe’s ultimate pitch is that he will be the candidate for change.
“I have been in training for this for most of my life. I think I can make a difference, and I do have a plan and a vision for what that difference looks like,” he told the media.
“I think change is necessary, but in a respectful, sensible, and thoughtful way, not at the risk of destabilizing. We’re in a fast-changing landscape, and change is absolutely crucial. I have a passion for the Olympic movement. It’s been my life,” he concluded.
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