New chief Coventry says IOC will launch gender working group

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  • New chief Coventry says IOC will launch gender working group

The new president of the International Olympic Committee has disclosed a shift from its conventional stance on setting gender eligibility criteria in sports.

Kirsty Coventry addressed an online news conference after the first executive board meeting of her presidency on Thursday. She had taken over the post from Thomas Bach following a handover ceremony in Switzerland on Monday. Coventry said IOC members agreed that the organization "should take a leading role" in setting up a working group on gender regulations.

The IOC has conventionally entrusted the governing bodies of individual sports with drawing up their own gender rules. In recent years, discussions have been continuing about eligibility criteria for transgender athletes in Olympic competitions. Some say that given biological differences in muscular strength, it is unfair for people who have changed their gender from male to female to take part in women's events.

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