Addressing the critical issue of male participation in women’s sporting events

Washington, DC, July 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For Immediate Release

ICFS, ICONS Release Media Guide for the 2024 Paris Olympics: Advocating for Fairness in Women’s Sports

The International Consortium on Female Sports (ICFS) and the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) announced the release of their comprehensive Media Guide for the 2024 Paris Olympics, addressing the critical issue of male participation in women’s sporting events.

This guide provides fact-based insights and expert commentary to assist journalists and media professionals in accurately covering competitions that involve male athletes competing in women’s categories.

“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has instructed journalists not to accurately report the sex of athletes even when males are competing against women,” said Dr. Mary O’Connor, a former US Olympic team rower and ICONS Rowing Chair. “The injustice of allowing men in women’s sport is unfair, unsafe and dehumanizing to women. Asking the media to hide it from the public is inexcusable.”

The ICONS/ICSF Media Guide:

• Outlines the biological and competitive disparities that exist between male and female athletes, backed by scientific research and data.
• Emphasizes that testosterone suppression in male athletes does not eliminate their inherent physiological advantages, which include but are not limited to increased muscle mass, bone density, and oxygen-carrying capacity. These advantages provide male athletes with an unfair competitive edge in female categories.
• Challenges current narratives pushed by some sporting bodies and media outlets that obscure the biological realities of sex differences in sports.
• Encourages the use of clear, scientifically accurate language that respects the integrity of women's sports.

The release of this Media Guide comes at a pivotal time, just before the 2024 Olympics, as the IOC and various sports governing bodies are examining their policies regarding gender and competition.

“It has been over twenty years since the IOC stopped sex verification of Olympians in the female category. Its abandonment of fair and ethical competition for female athletes has led to the IOC’s recent, inaccurate insistence that males ‘should not be deemed to have an unfair or disproportionate competitive advantage’ over female athletes in Olympic sports,” said Coach Linda Blade, Kinesiology PhD and founding member of ICFS. “The IOC now encourages journalists to obscure and lie whenever a man self-identifies into a women’s competition. Women the world over are here to say ‘no’ to this absurdity. The integrity of the Olympic movement and IOC brand is at stake.”

Journalists and media outlets covering the 2024 Paris Olympics are encouraged to refer to the ICFS/ICONS Media Guide to better understand the complexities of this issue and to report with accuracy and depth.

For additional information, expert interviews, or further comments, please contact ICONS at info@iconswomen.com, or visit www.icfsport.org.

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