Olympic Paddler Says ICF’s “No Changes for Rio 2016” A Step Back for Women & Sport

SPORTSCENE received the article below from an athlete who wishes to remain anonymous. WomenCAN International applauds this athlete for speaking out and respects their wish to remain anonymous. We also commend Sportscene for continuing to be a trusted source for the paddling community.

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I have chosen to write this article on an anonymous basis. Not because I don’t believe in what I’m writing and not because I’m afraid of standing by my point of view. I want people to step back, have a think and look at it in a different light. I feel the arguments that are being put forward on social media are getting too personal. The emotions are running high and I feel the sport as a whole seems to be missing the point.

All I will say is that I am an Olympian, preparing another Olympic cycle and I compete in slalom. I do not train nor compete in any C boats.

Canoeing is an Olympic sport. Canoe slalom and sprint are the Olympic disciplines of canoeing. What does it mean to be an Olympic sport? It means a lot of things. But from a practical point of view it means the sport signs the Olympic charter. By choosing to be Olympic, canoeing chooses to respect this charter. The international governing body, in this case the ICF, is there to make sure the governance and policies of the Olympic disciplines are in parallel with this charter. And this is where canoeing has a problem… Within the ICF’s current proposal of the Rio Olympic canoeing programme, our sport is in breach of principle 6 of the Olympic charter:

“Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement” ~Olympic Charter