IOC presidential hopeful Sebastian Coe says ‘We run the risk of losing women’s sport’

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has vowed to protect women’s sport following the gender eligibility row at this year’s Paris Games if he becomes head of the International Olympic Committee. Coe said in an interview that ensuring a clear set of policies around women’s participation would be at the top of his in-tray if he is elected next March to succeed Thomas Bach. The 68-year-old Briton also vowed to widen the decision-making process surrounding Russia’s readmission to the Olympics.

Coe said the furore surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won Olympic gold medals in women’s boxing despite failing gender tests at last year’s world championships, left him “uncomfortable”. Boxing was a sport with “inherent dangers” that required crystal-clear guidelines from the top of the Olympic tree, he said. “I don’t think you can play fast and loose with a sport like boxing.



You have to have clear policies as you do across all sports,” Coe said, speaking after a World Athletics event launch in Budapest..