“Are there ways, that are not infringing on human rights, to create a level playing field?” he asked. “Are there other conditions that we can create – for example staggered starts in the 100m? Or delayed starts?”
Even if steps are taken which would allegedly make it fairer, you are still increasing the numbers competing in the women’s category, and women who would have won before will lose out. Women is not an “also ran” category, where we should throw in lots of extra male bodies.
We should also bear in mind this only occurs because these men are taking decisions that could have been deferred until they were past the stage of top competition, just as women athletes have always had to make decisions about pregnancy. Women who want to transition presumably are already making that choice, which tells us all we need to know about fairness. That’s the thing about drugs and medical treatment. Sometimes if you want to compete, there are difficult choices to be made and I get that that might be shit for some individuals, but elite sport has always involved difficult choices.
And of course, if you really want to make all sport fair for all, the alternative would be to place “handicaps” in all sports, as they do with golf. That way, everyone could compete in the same category. Imagine the outcry men would make when they had to compete with women on a fair playing field and were no longer able to win all the time.
And yet nobody is suggesting that. Only that women’s sport should be changed, because the powers that be don’t see it as important enough to matter.
This stuff makes me want to scream.
🤬