39 h. ago Olympics chief reveals plans for transgender policy change and pledges to 'protect the female category'

Kirsty Coventry revealed that a working group was being set up to determine a new policy after 'overwhelming support' amid raging controversy over transgender boxers.

Events

56 h. ago New Olympics chief Kirsty Coventry vows IOC will ‘ensure fairness’ for female athletes

Task force of scientists and federations to revise policyTrans and DSD athletes expected to be banned from female categoryKirsty Coventry has said there is now “overwhelming support” among International Olympic Committee members to protect the female category in a significant shift in its gender eligibility policy.Coventry, who was chairing her first meetings as the IOC’s new president, said that a taskforce of scientists and international federations would be set up within weeks to come up with a new policy. Continue reading...

Politics

56 h. ago IOC’s Kirsty Coventry announces ‘scientific approach’ to protect ‘female category’

Task force of scientists and federations to revise policyTrans and DSD athletes expected to be banned from female categoryKirsty Coventry has said there is now “overwhelming support” among International Olympic Committee members to protect the female category in a significant shift in its gender eligibility policy.Coventry, who was chairing her first meetings as the IOC’s new president, said that a taskforce of scientists and international federations would be set up within weeks to come up with a new policy. Continue reading...

Politics

57 h. ago Kirsty Coventry vows that IOC will ensure fairness for female athletes

Two athletes – Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting – won gold medals despite having been disqualified from the 2023 World Championships.

Politics

5 d. ago Kirsty Coventry takes over as Olympic president and promises to change lives

First woman in the role replaces Thomas Bach‘We are guardians of the Olympic movement’Kirsty Coventry has promised to change lives and inspire hope during an official ceremony to mark her taking over from Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee.The 41-year-old from Zimbabwe, who in March became the first woman and the first African to be elected to the most powerful job in sports politics, also paid tribute to the strong women in her life as she was given the golden key to the IOC by Bach. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Kirsty Coventry is now the most powerful person in sport and faces a bulging in

Successor to Thomas Bach is already making a positive impression and displaying a more human approachA new day has broken, has it not? For several reasons, Tony Blair’s 1997 election victory speech comes to mind on what will be a historic and symbolic day for sport. Because in Lausanne on Monday, after plenty of handshakes and platitudes, the 41-year-old Kirsty Coventry will become the first female and first African president of the International Olympic Committee in its 131-year-old history.It has been, by any measure, a dizzying ascent. In 2016, Coventry stepped out of an Olympic pool for the final time in Rio. Now, nine years later, she is the most powerful person in sport. Yet as she takes charge, there are some who suspect that the new dawn will look rather like the old one – and that her predecessor, Thomas Bach, and his administration, will remain puppet masters behind the throne. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Coventry makes history and has steel to make IOC role more than a puppet show | Sean Ingle

Bach’s successor is already making a positive impression but will need all her resolve at mammoth organisationA new day has broken, has it not? For several reasons, Tony Blair’s 1997 election victory speech comes to mind on what will be a historic and symbolic day for sport. Because in Lausanne on Monday, after plenty of handshakes and platitudes, the 41-year-old Kirsty Coventry will become the first female and first African president of the International Olympic Committee in its 131-year-old history.It has been, by any measure, a dizzying ascent. In 2016, Coventry stepped out of an Olympic pool for the final time in Rio. Now, nine years later, she is the most powerful person in sport. Yet as she takes charge, there are some who suspect that the new dawn will look rather like the old one – and that her predecessor, Thomas Bach, and his administration, will remain puppet masters behind the throne. Continue reading...

Culture

7 d. ago In the Arena: Serena Williams review – there is just no one in the world that matches up to her (and her sister)

This eight-part docuseries about one of tennis’s most decorated players paints a picture of an astonishing woman – and an even more astonishing sibling relationshipSerena Williams, holder of 39 grand slam titles and four Olympic gold medals, who spent 319 weeks as tennis’s world No 1 and became the highest-earning female athlete in history, never thought she was that good when she was a young player. That was because she was always training against her older sister, Venus (“she was the prodigy of prodigies”), the only person in the world who could really challenge her. A year younger, Serena remembers being shorter and weaker and resorting to cheating on line calls at practice so she could occasionally beat her.In the Arena: Serena Williams (the title comes from President Roosevelt’s 1910 speech to the Sorbonne – “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the ...

Politics

9 d. ago Kirsty Coventry vows to stay humble as the first female president of the IOC

Zimbabwean opts against using luxury hotelsCoventry wants IOC members to speak their mindsKirsty Coventry has promised to not let power go to her head when she becomes the first female president of the International Olympic Committee next week.Her predecessor, Thomas Bach, would always stay in a suite paid for by the IOC at the five-star Lausanne Palace hotel, costing about £2,000 a night, whenever he was in the city. However, the Zimbabwean confirmed her family would not be following suit. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Kirsty Coventry to swerve palaces and focus on responsibility as first female IOC president

Zimbabwean takes over from Thomas Bach next weekCoventry speaks of making ‘right decisions’ in the roleKirsty Coventry has promised to not let power go to her head when she becomes the first female president of the International Olympic Committee next week.Her predecessor, Thomas Bach, would always stay in a suite paid for by the IOC at the five-star Lausanne Palace hotel, costing about £2,000 a night, whenever he was in the city. However, the Zimbabwean confirmed her family would not be following suit. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Why female athletes are challenging the NCAA’s $2.8bn settlement

Eight women have appealed the NCAA’s antitrust deal, arguing it violates Title IX and unfairly favors men’s sports. Here’s what the settlement does and what’s nextCollege athletes spent decades fighting for the right to make money from their name, image and likeness (NIL). In 2021, they won. Now, a $2.8bn NCAA settlement is set to compensate hundreds of thousands of current and former athletes who missed out on those earnings. But not everyone thinks the deal is fair.Eight female athletes filed an appeal this week, arguing the agreement violates Title IX, the US law banning sex-based discrimination in education. They say the way the money is divided, largely favoring football and men’s basketball players, shortchanges women by more than $1bn. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Finance convener calls on Scottish Government to ensure North Lanarkshire benefits from Chancellor’s spending review

Councillor Andrew Duffy-Lawson has urged the government at Holyrood to ensure that North Lanarkshire receives its fair share of the recently announced investment in Scottish public services as a result of the announcement from Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Politics

2 w. ago Female athletes appeal landmark NCAA settlement, saying it violates federal antidiscrimination law

Eight female athletes have filed an appeal of a landmark NCAA antitrust settlement

Events

2 w. ago Female athletes worry for future after $2.8 billion NCAA settlement

Three-quarters of the funds are expected to go to football, leaving other sports out in the cold

Economics

4 w. ago Violent protests erupt in California as trans athlete thrashes female rivals in defiance of Trump's executive order

AB Hernandez, 17, sealed her place in three finals yesterday - high jump, long jump and triple jump - after coming out on top in all of her preliminary heats.

Politics