As reported by the Telegraph, the International Olympic Committee has been accused by Martina Navratilova of waging a “1984 version of war on women” after asking journalists attending this summer’s Paris Games not to use terms such as “born male” or “biologically male” to describe transgender athletes. It argued that such labels were “dehumanising” and constituted “problematic language”.
Navratilova, the nine-time Wimbledon champion and a consistent voice in upholding the integrity of women’s sport, responded witheringly to these statements, saying: “The IOC has been captured. This is 1984 version of war on women. Total erasure.”
Their advice flies in the face of actions taken by the major Olympic sports of athletics, swimming and cycling, all of which have revised their transgender policies to prioritise sex over gender and ensure fairness for women in their own category. In 2022, World Swimming was forced to act after Lia Thomas went from being the 554th-ranked male in the United States in the 200-yard freestyle to winning a national collegiate title in the equivalent female race.
The listing of “born male” or “genetically male” under terms to avoid in Paris – along with a blanket guideline to replace “identifies as” with “is” – has sparked outrage among many ex-Olympians. Inga Thompson, a cyclist who represented the US at three Olympics, said: “The IOC media have allowed themselves to be bought, because deep down, they never wanted women to be in sports. The ultimate misogynist movement.”
Alison Sydor, who competed for Canada in mountain biking at Atlanta 1996, pointed out that the IOC had cited GLAAD, an American LGBT advocacy group, as a leading authority on the subject. Only this week, GLAAD promoted a T-shirt bearing the message: “No TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists).” “The IOC sure know how to pick a partner to lecture everyone about dehumanising language,” Sydor wrote.
Cathy Devine, a former lecturer in sport and physical activity at the University of Cumbria, branded the IOC’s document “breathtakingly sexist and complete propaganda”. Despite the ferocious backlash, Yiannis Exarchos, chief executive of Olympic Broadcasting Services, promised that his team in Paris would use the guidelines as “our Bible”. “We call on our colleagues across all media to embrace them,” he said.
