Over 40,000 people urge International Olympic Committee to ‘keep women’s sports for women'

Over 40,000 athletes, women and activists signed a petition to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) demanding that women not be "forced to compete with men" in future Olympic Games. 

The petition, led by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), argued that "governments and organizational bodies like the IOC have adopted policies that allow males who identify as female to compete in women’s sports." 

The petition, which was hand-delivered to the IOC’s headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland by ADF International, states that the organization's policies have "prioritize[d] feelings over fairness—ideology over truth."

"As an organization governing athletics, the IOC must be held accountable for the many harms caused by allowing men to compete in women’s sports at the highest stage in the world, from lost medals and victories to privacy and safety violations," the petition reads. 

"The IOC’s voice matters," the petition adds. "Others look to your leadership. Not only are the women competing in this year’s Olympics impacted—but every little girl dreaming of winning the gold is as well."

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Women's sports activist Riley Gaines told Fox News Digital that as a college athlete she herself experienced firsthand situations where her safety and privacy were repeatedly jeopardized. 

"I’m one of so many young women that have lost out on medals and opportunities - simply because I wasn’t a male. What kind of message does that send?" she asked. "The IOC is looked upon as a leader on sports policies. It must take heed of this petition, and take a stand for women around the world in protecting our sports - not only for this generation of athletes, but the little girls who one day dream of winning the gold." 

In November 2021, the International Olympic Committee released a revised policy recommendation in which individual sports bodies were asked to apply certain parameters with a particular focus on "foster[ing] gender equality and inclusion" when establishing their own policies, Fox News previously reported. 

"In issuing this Framework, the IOC recognizes that it must be in the remit of each sport and its governing body to determine how an athlete may be at a disproportionate advantage against their peers, taking into consideration the nature of each sport," the document reads. "The IOC is therefore not in a position to issue regulations that define eligibility criteria for every sport, discipline, or event across the very different national jurisdictions and sports systems."

Instead, the IOC’s new Framework offered "a principled approach to develop their criteria that are applicable to their sport," asking that each individual sports governing body take a "comprehensive approach grounded on respect for internationally recognized human rights, robust evidence and athlete consultation," according to a press release issued at the time.

British Olympian swimmer and sports commentator Sharron Davies argued that "women’s sport should never have been sacrificed on the altar of virtue-signaling gender ideology, against all the peer reviewed science in the first place."

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Davies lost out on winning gold at the 1980s Olympics against an East German competitor who had been given testosterone as a teenager to improve her performance. Many of the female winners who had been injected with testosterone in the 1980s went on to suffer long-term health problems, which also affected the next generation with birth defects. 

The female competitors who lost out on medals because of this were never recognized for their achievements, Fox News Digital previously reported. 

"I’d very much hoped after the betrayal of women during the GDR era I wouldn’t see the IOC do it again, but here we are," she added. "Let’s hope common sense and prioritizing fairness and safety for female athletes will return soon. The willful negligence of the boxing during the Paris 2024 Olympics was a particular low point and a total disgrace." 

The IOC faced global criticism at this summer's Paris Olympics, when Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan won gold medals in women's boxing. Both athletes had previously been disqualified from international competitions for failing gender eligibility tests. However, the IOC and current President Thomas Bach voiced support for both athletes. Khelif and Yu-ting's natural birth sex is disputed. 

But, last month, Sebastian Coe, a candidate to be the next president of the IOC, promised to introduce an "uncompromising and clearcut" policy to protect women’s sports if elected president in the March election. And at a town hall event on Fox News during his campaign, Trump advocated for a full-on ban ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. 

Women have lost more than 890 medals in 29 different sports to males competing in women's sports categories, according the report of Reem Alsalem, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women and girls. 

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College athlete Chelsea Mitchell, who lost the Connecticut state championship title to a male athlete four times, has filed a lawsuit with ADF against her state’s sports authority on the basis of unfair competition.  

"I’ve lost four women’s state championship titles, two all-New England awards, and numerous other spots on the podium to male runners," Mitchell said. "I was bumped to third place in the 55-meter dash in 2019, behind two male runners. With every loss, it gets harder and harder to try again."   

"That’s a devastating experience," she added. "It tells me that I’m not good enough; that my body isn’t good enough; and that no matter how hard I work, I am unlikely to succeed, because I’m a woman."

In addition to sports competition, female-only spaces are at risk as athletes have been forced to share locker rooms, bathrooms and locker rooms with biological males competing on their sports team. Female athletes also face the loss of opportunities, both academic and professional, when they are forced to compete alongside biological males. 

Elyssa Koren, director of legal communications for ADF International, stressed the importance of the fact that men and women are different and unique. 

"We should celebrate our complementary strengths – not diminish them at the expense of the safety, privacy, and dignity of all involved," she said. 

Several European countries and American states have banned puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for children and the ADF petition comes ahead of Wednesday's Supreme Court oral arguments on a law in the state of Tennessee that bans puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and certain surgeries for minors.

"Gender ideology has countless victims, including children who, incapable of consenting to the harm, take toxic puberty blockers which can cause irreversible damage to their bodies – to young girls and women who suffer the consequences of the lie that men can become women," Koren said. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the International Olympic Committee for comment.

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Fox News' Paulina Dedaj and Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.