A report, backed by Olympians, proposes cutting Government funding for Parkrun if concerns regarding the participation of biological males in women’s events are not addressed. The Mail has more.
Biological men hold at least three Parkrun female records because of its policy that lets entrants self-identify their gender, according to the Policy Exchange think tank.
Gender ideology is risking the fairness and safety of competitions for women and girls, said the analysis backed by the likes of Martina Navratilova and Sharron Davies.
The report also claimed women could be “alienated” from grassroots sports and highlighted major physical advantages which biological males have over females.
It said Sports England, the Government’s non-departmental body for community sport, should tell Parkrun that it must collect participants’ data based on biological sex, rather than gender identity, and update course records to reflect this. It added: “If this does not happen within 12 months, taxpayers’ funding should be withdrawn.”
Research by Policy Exchange found at least three female records set at five kilometre (three mile) community Parkrun events are held by biological males.
This includes the female 45-49 category at Porthcawl in South Wales which had been set in 2008 at 20.06 minutes by Deb Roberts. In May this year, Siân Longthorpe – a transgender woman who is biological male – set a new record of 18.53 minutes.
That result gained national attention when it was cited by Mara Yamauchi, a former British Olympian, as an example of what she claimed was the exclusion of women athletes and their achievements in the name of being “inclusive”.
The report said: “Given the fact that men generally have a performance advantage over women of at least 13%, it is unlikely a biological female will beat Longthorpe’s time in the future.”
Longthorpe also holds the age 40-44 female record, as well as the outright female record at Parke in Devon, and the female record for ages 40-44 in Torbay Velopark. …
Separately, transgender Lauren Jeska who was born a man has held both Aberystwyth’s ages 35-39 record and the outright female record since 2012, with a time of 17.38 minutes.
The report said: “Since 2012, three women have lost out on holding the outright title due to Parkrun’s gender self-ID policy.” …
Daley Thompson, two-time Olympic gold medallist in the decathlon, who also backed the report, said: “We risk alienating a generation of young female athletes if we cannot promise them fair and safe play from the grassroots level to the top.”
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.