progress of Milan-Cortina Olympic venues applauded by Coventry amidst IOC executive meetings in Milan
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that it will publish new guidelines on the issue of gender in sports by mid-2023. This decision comes amidst increasing pressure on the IOC due to President Donald Trump's "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order, which bars transgender athletes from competing in women's sports in the United States and would apply to the Los Angeles summer Olympics in 2028.
In an interview with Italian daily Gazzetta Dello Sport, IOC President Thomas Bach discussed the issue of Russia violating the Olympic charter by annexing the regions of another National Olympic Committee. However, he also announced the founding of a working group to develop new guidelines on the politically sensitive and scientifically complex issue of gender research. The guidelines are expected to be published "in the next 6-12 months."
The working group will aim to protect women in sports where they may need additional protection. For example, in some federations such as World Athletics and World Boxing, chromosomal testing is a condition for participation in women's competitions, with participation conditional on the absence of Y chromosome genetic material, known as the SRY gene.
The situation is different from sport to sport regarding the participation of men and women. For instance, men and women already compete together in equestrianism, but in other sports, women may need to be protected.
The Milan-Cortina Games, set to take place between February 6-22 in northern Italy, will be the first major sporting event to be affected by the new guidelines. The Olympic village, though structurally complete, is not yet furnished, and the gym area is currently concrete. However, the Zimbabwean former swimming champion, who was given a tour of the village and the Santa Giulia ice hockey arena, found the fast pace of construction to be "really wonderful."
Giovanni Malago, a Milan-Cortina board member, reported that the IOC's view of the sites has been "extremely positive." The IOC's two-day executive board meeting is planned for Friday afternoon, and the meeting could discuss the likely participation of Russian athletes under a neutral flag at the Winter Games.
The Olympic Games' executive director, Christophe Dubi, previously spoke about the potential participation of Russian and Israeli athletes. Coventry, the head of the Winter Olympics, did not answer questions from reporters at Thursday's event, but a press conference is planned for Friday.
As the world prepares for the Milan-Cortina Games, the IOC's new guidelines on gender in sports are set to shape the future of Olympic competition, aiming to ensure fairness and equality for all athletes.
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