Kirsty Coventry is the new president of the International Olympic Committee, but where doe she stand on trans rights?
Coventry is the first woman to head the committee in its history, and after being voted into the spot said “the young girl who first started swimming in Zimbabwe all those years ago could never have dreamt of this moment. Glass ceilings have been shattered today.” She competed in her first Olympics in 2000.
During her participation in the Games she won Gold in 200-meter backstroke in 2004 and 2008, along with five additional medals from both years, according to Pink News.
Coventry’s resume put her in the perfect position to get the role at the IOC, with both political and sports experience under her belt. But the Olympic Gold-medalist has received backlash for her involvement with controversial government figures in Zimbabwe, including serving as sports minister for President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“In terms of my country, I chose to try and create change from the inside. It gets criticized, and that’s ok, because at the end of the day, I don’t think you can stand on the sidelines and scream for change. I believe you have to be seated at the table.” For months, Coventry has made comments on her intentions to “protect women’s sports.”
“My stance is that we will protect the female category and athletes. I want to work together with the international federations. And we’re going to do that by setting up a task force that will look and analyze everything,” she said. However intentionally vague she might have been in this statement, Coventry has historically backed a blanket ban for transgender athletes competing in the Olympics, it seems the “female category and athletes” does not apply to all women, just cisgender women only for Coventry.
No research or evidence suggests that trans women have an advantage over cis women in sports, and the Olympic Committee has not commissioned any research to determine if their claims are true. In fact, a study released last year revealed that trans women athletes actually suffer disadvantages from their cisgender counterparts, performing worse on cardiovascular tests.
Despite this, Pink News reports that Coventry has also said “It is very clear that transgender women are more able in the female category, and can take away opportunities that should be equal for women.”
