World Athletics Council makes critical decision on transgender women competing in female events

In recent years transgender women competing in female athletics has resulted in large scale debates all across the globe; A high profile example that sparked controversy was former male swimmer Lia Thomas beating 2 Olympic medalists to become the first trans athlete to win an NCAA title. Thomas faced criticism, including from within her own team for competing within the female category despite what critics suggest is a ‘biological advantage’.

A groundbreaking ruling has now been made whereby the World Athletics council voted to ban transgender women from elite female competitions, describing it as “protecting the future of the female category.” In the ever changing world whereby people identifying themselves differently and undergoing processes to change their gender is now common, rulings such as this to protect the future of female sports could be argued to be necessary. Biologically men hold a competitive advantage over women and subsequently this could be attributed as to one of the reasons we have seen dominance from transgender (former male) athletes such as Lia Thomas in female athletics.

The President of the World Athletics council Lord Coe stated “Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations.” He went on to say "We will be guided in this by the science around physical performance and male advantage which will inevitably develop over the coming years. As more evidence becomes available, we will review our position, but we believe the integrity of the female category in athletics is paramount."

Athletics has now joined the list of sports that now prevent transgender women from competing within female sport, following World Swimming, Rugby Football League and World Rugby in 2020. Whilst this is a decision that we would expect to be popular with non transgender female athletes, it does not come without both opposition and backlash from other places. LGBTQ+ groups supporting the rights of transgender athletes argue that “the scientific evidence base on trans people in sport is developing but is far from conclusive”, and that they have “every right to participate in sports.”

It’s certainly clear that this is a topic that won’t be going away any time soon, and if anything it is more likely to become even more high profile in the coming years. As science and medical research continues to develop and we can further evaluate the ‘fairness’ of transgender women competing against female athletes, it’s more than possible we could see many more twists and turns in this story. Even the President of the World Athletics Council Lord Coe himself has stated “we aren’t saying no forever.”

Written by Ben Andrell 15/04/23

London Marathon 2023 sees record OBLITERATED by bright and upcoming Kenyan star

Sunday April 23rd saw the hosting of the iconic annual event, The London Marathon. Kenyan long distance runner Eliud Kipchoge had held the record for 7 long years since he broke it in the 2016 event with a time of 2:01:09. On Sunday however, the long record was finally broken when fellow Kenyan long distance runner 23 year old Kelvin Kiptum put in a jaw dropping display. His performance saw the previous record cut by 12 seconds in what was nothing short of a tremendous display. It has been described as a ‘perfect’ race, as he surged away with 31km to break clear of the chasing pack. The second half of the race saw the Kenyan finish within just 59 minutes and 45 seconds, cementing his time as the fastest half marathon ever recorded in a full marathon race. 

It’s not the only superb performance that Kiptum has demonstrated on the big stage, recording 2:01:53 in Valencia, a time that saw him mark himself as the third fastest to run the race in history. So who is this extremely talented young Kenyan? Can and will he continue to destroy old records and does he have the potential to put himself up alongside the true elites of this sport?

Abraham Kiptum was born in Chepketei Kosirai Village, Kenya as the third of four children. The future looks astonishingly bright for him, especially when you look at how the start to his career compares to that of one of the all time greats in Eliud Kipchoge. His debut marathon saw him record a time that was over three minutes faster than what Kipchoge ran in his debut back in 2013. 

What does the future hold for this young star? He will be hoping to run the World Athletics Championships marathon this summer, dependent on whether he gets the call from Kenya. He’s previously stated that he would be more than willing to accept the offer to represent them should it arrive. Analysts hold him in extremely high regard with Martin Keino (son of the great Kip Keino) referring to him as ‘Kipchoge 2.0’: “I believe we are seeing the next Kipchoge coming through. I like his style and he seems to have the right personality to be one of the best in the world in this event.” 

So certainly it seems of no debate that Kelvin Kiptum seems destined to go right to the very top, and analysts expect him to have cemented his name amongst the elites of the sport by the time the curtain closes on his career. Having already won a London marathon at the age 23, you would very much expect the best is still to come and he’s not even close to the pinnacle of his career. Numerous records have been broken by this extraordinary young man, and the future looks set to see him break plenty more. 

Written by Ben Andrell 26/04/23

New World Athletics ruling sees Russia ban lifted: But can they compete now?

Russia’s doping ban has now been lifted after a new ruling in March from the World Athletics committee. After a scandal was uncovered whereby the Russian federation was found guilty of state-sponsored doping in November 2015, they had not been able to compete since. Now they have finally been reinstated after successfully meeting the conditions set by the World Athletics’ Russia Taskforce.

Despite the bans, Russian and Belarusian athletes were actually permitted to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Games, but only as neutrals and were not allowed to represent their nation due to the serving of the ongoing ban. Whilst the ruling in March that saw their suspension lifted would lead one to assume they were now able to represent their nation, unfortunately for them this is not the case.

Due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, athletes remain excluded. The president of the World Athletics committee Sebastian Coe stated “The unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus by countries and industries all over the world appear to be the only peaceful way to disrupt and disable Russia's current intentions and restore peace.” He went on to further state “The death and destruction we have seen in Ukraine over the past year, including the deaths of some 185 athletes, have only hardened my resolve on this matter.”

It comes as no surprise that in light of something as serious as a full scale military invasion of a fellow European country, Russia has been indefinitely banned. The war already saw both Belarusian and Russian athletes banned from prior events such as the World Athletics Championships in Oregon last year. The problems do not end there for Russia when it comes to World Athletics, with the nation banned from hosting any European or international athletics events. Discussing the ruling Coe commented “The integrity of our major international competitions has already been substantially damaged by the actions of the Russian and Belarusian governments, through the hardship inflicted on Ukrainian athletes and the destruction of Ukraine's sports systems. Russian and Belarusian athletes, many of whom have military affiliations, should not be beneficiaries of these actions.”

Ukraine president Volodymr Zelensky has told a summit of sports ministers last month that the Russian invasion had already resulted in the death of 228 Ukrainian athletes and coaches since last year. The Ukrainian Ministry of Sport also said that 35 sports facilities had been destroyed, 40,000 athletes forced to flee abroad and that 140,000 young talents had been left without any training facilities.

This is certainly no laughing matter, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine paints a scary picture for independence for countries all over the world. It also shows how difficult/almost inevitable it is that politics will make an appearance within sport, and that there are no easy resolutions or solutions to avoid this problem.

Written by Ben Andrell 20/04/23