Page 2 | Elite sports people speaking up!

Signalbox · 2023-01-30T10:29:27+00:00

There seems to be an increasing number of sports people speaking up about the problem of males completing in women's sports which is positive. Thought it might be useful to have a thread of those who are risking sticking their heads above the parapet. Obviously the likes of Sharon Davies, Mara Yamauchi and Martina Navratilova have been bravely doing this for sometime but now we appear to have a few current athletes as well who are prepared to risk the mob to ensure women have fair competition. Is it too much to hope for that there will be a snowball effect?

OttersMayHaveShiftedInTransit · 30/01/2023 15:18

BellaAmorosa · 30/01/2023 15:09

Still not enough women. I understand the pressures but this is a battle for the existence of women's sport in any meaningful sense. Surely a swimmer or triathlete or rugby player (whose governing bodies have done the right thing) could lend her voice. Cycling? Football? Tennis? Any of the sports in which women stars are well-known names, please speak up, ladies!

The problem is being a well know name makes you a target - look at JK Rowling - enough death threats to paper her house. It also means you have more to lose in terms of sponsorship, selection etc.

IcakethereforeIam · 30/01/2023 15:22

Male athletes don't get sexually harassed when they're running, or abducted and, raped and murdered. Male athletes can exercise more safely in the dark of early morning and in the evening. Male athletes can exercise more safely on their own.

I'm not sure about sexual harassment by their doctors, coaches and trainers. That might be about equal, at least when they're young.

DaughterOfPsychiatrist · 30/01/2023 15:27

I’ve got a really impressive, top-of-breed -standard sized greyhound whose dad and grandad were both international superstars.

Would any blokes reading this like to borrow him as a jogging buddy? He’s just past retirement age but can still manage 30mph.

DarkDayforMN · 30/01/2023 15:37

OneLongSmorgasbord · 30/01/2023 12:03

I started following him a day or two ago, he's doing a great job of calling out some of the other male athletes who want to "be kind".

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I went down a rabbit hole in the replies of that thread. Discussion of “non biological males” and in what sense they’re non-biological led to this beauty:

well if we let the washing machines decided society would still have whites separated.

just wanted to extend appreciation to the artist behind that because they got none on the thread!

IcakethereforeIam · 30/01/2023 15:42

I don't know if twitter polls are any guide but

Original poster

Signalbox · 30/01/2023 15:47

IcakethereforeIam · 30/01/2023 15:42

I don't know if twitter polls are any guide but

Crikey that's a pretty good response.
I'm assuming that Athletics Weekly aren't partisan and don't have a massive TERF following (I don't know if there's such thing as an unbiased twitter poll but it would be good to think this was representative of the general Twitter population)

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Original poster

Signalbox · 31/01/2023 08:54

“Eilish McColgan, one of Britain's leading long-distance runners, says "a lot more work needs to be done" around the possible advantages of transgender women competing in elite female athletics.”

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/64460705

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AlecTrevelyan006 · 31/01/2023 09:14

Slightly longer piece here

uk.yahoo.com/news/eilish-mccolgan-trans-debate-one-065546010.html

Original poster

Signalbox · 31/01/2023 09:56

Kirsty Law...

twitter.com/Kirstylawdiscus/status/1620357405099032576

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HufflepuffRavenclaw · 31/01/2023 10:02

Gabby Logan tweeted yesterday that she is "inclined to agree" that the campaign against JK Rowling has been "utterly unhinged".

OK so she's not a high level sports star any more, but she is one of the BBC's most recognisable sports faces.

Winterborne74 · 31/01/2023 10:09

People are also keen to avoid the Lesley Sharp and the Paula Radcliffe treatment. Both receive an incredible amount of often quite degrading abuse when they spoke up about fairness in sport.

Fenlandia · 31/01/2023 10:37

Brilliant to see athletes of both sexes speaking up, the more that do, the easier it is for the next ones, and so on.

Hopefully the cyclists and rowers are taking heart, it's their sports which are being screwed over royally, and yet their sports are ones in which strength and power make a massive difference.

BellaAmorosa · 31/01/2023 10:54

I wouldn't exactly call what Gabby Logan has said statement in support of female-only women's sport, but it's a start if she's prepared to defend JK Rowling.
There is no way for current female athletes to speak up without running the risk of horrible abuse and destroying their careers. Nevertheless, they have to do it. If not them, then who? They should be WhatsApping each other, talking to Fair Play for Women, planning joint statements or boycotts. Something. There has been plenty of public support for Amelia Strickler et al, and with the prisons disaster being in the news, this is a great time to make a stand. UK Athletics has already been forced to change tack a bit just because of the few women who have gone public. Of course it's terrifying to stand up but it's their sport and they have to be the ones to reclaim it.

Fenlandia · 31/01/2023 11:07

BellaAmorosa · 31/01/2023 10:54

I wouldn't exactly call what Gabby Logan has said statement in support of female-only women's sport, but it's a start if she's prepared to defend JK Rowling.
There is no way for current female athletes to speak up without running the risk of horrible abuse and destroying their careers. Nevertheless, they have to do it. If not them, then who? They should be WhatsApping each other, talking to Fair Play for Women, planning joint statements or boycotts. Something. There has been plenty of public support for Amelia Strickler et al, and with the prisons disaster being in the news, this is a great time to make a stand. UK Athletics has already been forced to change tack a bit just because of the few women who have gone public. Of course it's terrifying to stand up but it's their sport and they have to be the ones to reclaim it.

I get what you mean Bella but I remember how scared I was the very first time I liked a JKR tweet. Maybe she is just dipping the tip of one toe into the water?

HufflepuffRavenclaw · 31/01/2023 11:10

I get that impression too - that she now feels a bit safer to say what she thinks after the whole "Isla Bryson" debacle.

Cileymyrus · 31/01/2023 11:14

Current athletes are pretty much hog tied when it comes to speaking out, against abuse, selection policies, rules, anything.

it all comes down to lottery funding, and the fact it is distributed at the discretion of a couple of (men, always men) who decide who gets it.
It isn’t necessarily results based, they can decide to fund an unknown 16 year old because someone thinks they have the potential to medal in 10 years, over a 20 year old who already has a successful junior/youth career.

this means you have to comply, keep on the “good side” of your NGB, as they can cut your funding or simply decide not to award any, because they feel like it.

women in particular are affected as there are less opportunities for sponsorship, so if they lose their funding that’s it, no money.

if you aren’t funded you put up and shut up because speaking out gets you marked as “difficult” and unless your results are untouchable and no one can beat you they’ll fund someone else instead.

lottery funding imo is one of the best and worst things to happen to uk sport.
It does give athletes the financial means to train full time, but it is also used to control and manipulate those athletes.
I personally know at least one athlete who has turned funding down because they don’t like it being held over them and effectively used to blackmail them into doing what the ngb want, not what is best for them.

Igmum · 31/01/2023 11:49

@IcakethereforeIam that's a brilliant Twitter poll. 22,872 responses and an overwhelming no to TW in women's sport. We are the majority, we just need to be less silent

Original poster

Signalbox · 31/01/2023 15:18

Riley Gaines testifies before Va. House Subcommittee on 30/01/2023

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BlueBooh · 31/01/2023 16:34

@IcakethereforeIam can you post a lin to that pill please. I can't find it to add my vote!

IcakethereforeIam · 31/01/2023 16:52

@BlueBooh I hope this link works but I think the poll has closed

twitter.com/AthleticsWeekly/status/1619000393417256960?s=20&t=8V-ziLg8sYV4F5HQN67hpw

Original poster

Signalbox · 02/02/2023 16:08

Riley Gaines again talking about the locker room situation...

twitter.com/NoraUtd/status/1620933129077723137

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SinnerBoy · 02/02/2023 16:13

IcakethereforeIam · 31/01/2023 16:52

@BlueBooh I hope this link works but I think the poll has closed

No: 96.7 %

BettyFilous · 03/02/2023 06:59

Cileymyrus · 31/01/2023 11:14

Current athletes are pretty much hog tied when it comes to speaking out, against abuse, selection policies, rules, anything.

it all comes down to lottery funding, and the fact it is distributed at the discretion of a couple of (men, always men) who decide who gets it.
It isn’t necessarily results based, they can decide to fund an unknown 16 year old because someone thinks they have the potential to medal in 10 years, over a 20 year old who already has a successful junior/youth career.

this means you have to comply, keep on the “good side” of your NGB, as they can cut your funding or simply decide not to award any, because they feel like it.

women in particular are affected as there are less opportunities for sponsorship, so if they lose their funding that’s it, no money.

if you aren’t funded you put up and shut up because speaking out gets you marked as “difficult” and unless your results are untouchable and no one can beat you they’ll fund someone else instead.

lottery funding imo is one of the best and worst things to happen to uk sport.
It does give athletes the financial means to train full time, but it is also used to control and manipulate those athletes.
I personally know at least one athlete who has turned funding down because they don’t like it being held over them and effectively used to blackmail them into doing what the ngb want, not what is best for them.

I’d be happy to make a regular contribution to a funding pot for exceptional female athletes to give them greater freedom, so long as the money was ringfenced for XX women.

Cileymyrus · 03/02/2023 10:28

BettyFilous · 03/02/2023 06:59

I’d be happy to make a regular contribution to a funding pot for exceptional female athletes to give them greater freedom, so long as the money was ringfenced for XX women.

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There is sportsaid which finds funding to allocate to young elite athletes.

however unfortunately, there are lots of other benefits to ngb funding in addition to money. International selections are usually made from the pool of funded athletes, there are allocated physios, medical care, training camps etc, travel and competitions, kit etc allocated.

it’s like a clique, and if you aren’t one of the gang you aren’t invited to the party. So turn it down and your chances of selection drop.

imo it’s a huge control issue, especially for sports where it’s usual to fund under 18’s. They have a panel of (men, always men) senior officials telling them what they have to do and often no parent to advocate.

Original poster

Signalbox · 05/02/2023 11:52

Bethany Hamilton who is apparently a top female surfer…

mobile.twitter.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1622069986045952000

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