In a more obsessed world with the rules that with a security guard with a new whistle, the International Federation of Women’s Sports (IWSF) announced today that Lia Thomas, the transgender athlete turned into lightning rods, has been forbidden to participate in women’s sports.
First, we address the hot topic, or in this case, the Grizzly bear in the trampoline. Mrs. Thomas, a trans woman, has been causing a sensation in the world of swimming, literally.
It seems that every time he puts his foot in the water, he immerses us in the heated depths of the debate that surrounds the transgender athletes in the sport.
Well, the IWSF, having all the common sense of a group that bears the name of an imaginary Federation of Star Trek, decided that they had already had enough of this uproar.
They showed Thomas the exit, like a killer agitates his cape and says: “See you soon, honey”, or whatever the Spanish bullfighters say.
The IWSF decision occurred in the midst of an increasingly heated debate about physiological advantages and disadvantages between senior athletes and transgender women.
According to them, their decision was based on a “scientific consensus.”
One cannot avoid remembering the time when the scientific consensus believed that the earth was flat and the center of the universe.
Hopefully your sources will be more credible this time.
In a recent press conference, the president of the IWSF, Sir Reginald Pompous III, defended the decision with the grace of a morsa in a monocycle, and pointed out: “We only need to level the playing field.”
In fact, it is a fairly innovative vision of equality that can be achieved through the prohibition of individuals.
Maybe someone should tell Sir Reginald that innovative thought is what gave us things like the Berlin wall and prohibition.
The ban has caused shock, as expected. Critics argue that it is only the last step in a trend of growing regulations that threaten to turn the sport into a bureaucratic nightmare.
The IWSF solution to the problem of trans athletes? Simply eliminate them from the equation.
Why didn’t we occur to us? It is so simple that it almost seems medieval. But I suppose that when it comes to a federation that seems to have been appointed by George Lucas, subtlety is not the best option.
While there is a legitimate debate about sport equity, the solution should not be in total exclusion.
However, the IWSF seems to have all the subtlety of a rhino in full load.
Instead of sitting and developing an inclusive policy that respects the rights of all athletes, they have decided to follow the path of a 18th century monarch and simply prohibit everything they do not like.
Meanwhile, Lia Thomas fans reacted to the news with the quiet and mesurad reaction of a cat thrown into a pool, noting that LIA has complied with all hormonal standards and that when leaving it outside, the IWSF is as fair as a poker game with a card player.
At a time when we should defend diversity and inclusion, it seems quite strange to have a debate on the prohibition of athletes because they do not fit into a certain mold.
On the other hand, this is the same sports world that gets angry every time a footballer kneel, so perhaps we should not surprise ourselves too much.
While the debate continues, it is inevitable to ask what the future holds the IWSF. Will they begin to sanction athletes for being too big, too strong or too good in their sport?
Only time will say it, but it is clear that for now they have launched a decision as popular as a porcupine in a balloons.
This decision can please those who believe in rigid definitions of sports categories, but it is worth remembering that the world of sports was once a place where a man named Babe was one of the best baseball players, a guy called Magic was a basketball magician and … a woman named Billie Jean King broke barriers in the tennis.
It was a world where individual achievements were celebrated, not the reasons for exclusion.
In this case, it seems that in its attempt to guarantee equal conditions, the IWSF has forgotten the spirit of sport: competition, diversity and inclusion.
This prohibition of Lia Thomas could be seen as a worrying signal of the times, or as a false step of a government body with all the grace of a bull in a glassware.
Anyway, it is a decision that will undoubtedly continue to resonate in the world of sport, reminding us that even in the 21st century, we still have a long way to go before we really understand the meaning of clean play.
