World Athletics advises of success of #WeGrowAthletics campaign in campaign report card

March 9, 2024

Sport /

Three years on from its initial launch in 2021, World Athletics is celebrating what it says is the “resounding success” of its #WeGrowAthletics campaign, advising that it has made notable strides in fulfilling or actioning the pledges that were made in the last 36 months.

Designed around pledges aimed at improving gender equity and closing the gender gap in athletics, the #WeGrowAthletics campaign’s ambition of eliminating gender bias in athletics, the campaign’s focus now shifts to gender equity and participation at grassroots level.

Revealed on International Women's Day, World Athletics explained that the campaign’s major achievements have included:

• A 50:50 gender split on the World Athletics Council - the organisation’s supreme decision-making body - four years ahead of schedule.

• An average of 49.5% female representation across our four commissions to provide more opportunities for female administrators with aspirations to run for our Council in 2027.

• Reviewing and breaking with traditions, by switching stats on worldathletics.org to default to women’s events and ending the World Athletics Championships in Oregon 2022 and Budapest 2023 with women’s disciplines for the first time in event history.

• Researching and increasing representation of female athletes across various media channels as well as highlighting and reporting instances of gender-based abuse online.

• Expanding our freelancer network across the world with a particular emphasis on women.

• Gender parity among commentators on World Athletics live streams, editorial teams, and Media Development Programme speakers and participants.

• Educational opportunities such as Gender Leadership Conferences in 2022 and 2023, online courses including a gender leadership eLearning course and Member Federation info sessions dedicated to gender equity.

• Launching a new safeguarding policy and eLearning course alongside a dedicated website section with resources for Member Federations to implement their own policies.

• Aligning our sustainability efforts to gender responsive projects such as the ‘Uganda Gender Responsive Safe Water Project’ to help offset HQ carbon emissions from event travel.

As evidenced at the recent World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 just last week, 11 of the 15 functional area leads were women, which accounts for 75% of the local organising committee’s leadership.

World Athletics President, Sebastian Coe commented “I am very proud of the work that World Athletics and the Gender Leadership Taskforce have accomplished over the course of the last three years. In that short time, through careful and deliberate actions, we have seen a massive shift in the representation of women across our sport, from the field of play to the boardroom.

“Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the #WeGrowAthletics campaign so far is the election of a fully gender balanced Council - this is an immense source of pride for me - and it is an honour to preside over this historic Council, the first of its kind in international sport.”

Having achieved its intended goals at the highest levels of administration four years earlier than anticipated, the campaign will now shift its focus to the grassroots level and focus its efforts on ensuring equal opportunities for young girls and women wishing to participate in our sport, coach from the beginner to elite levels, and pursue administrative roles at the local and national levels and beyond.

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