Fairness for women and girls in sport was the focus of the second ICONS conference, held this year in Denver on 21-23 July 2023. Elite athletes and campaigners from a dozen countries gathered to compare notes on progress to protect the female category and restore fairness, and in some cases safety. Around 180 people attending in person and many more online heard from Olympians, academic and lawyers. UK speakers included Olympians Sharron Davies MBE and Mara Yamauchi, Helen Joyce of Sex Matters, Dr Emma Hilton and sports ethicist Jon Pike.
The most moving testimony came from the young women affected by males in their sports and locker rooms. Riley Gaines is well-known for her courage in explaining the impact of Lia Thomas in swimming. She spoke with us for FiLiA last year. We also heard from Paula Scanlon, a team-mate of Thomas at the University of Pennsylvania, where the female swimmers had to change with him 18 times a week. High school volleyballer Payton McNabb talked about the physical and psychological impact on her of being knocked unconscious by a ball hit by a male on the other side. All the speeches are on the ICONS website.
Fair Play For Women’s director of sport, Fiona McAnena, took part in an international panel with representatives from New Zealand, Spain, Canada and Mexico. These women are part of the International Consortium on Female Sport, working together to take back female sport around the world. You can watch Fiona’s input on our YouTube channel in these three short clips on our YouTube channel. The full international panel discussion is the first item on day three of the conference, video available on the ICONS website.
Fiona also spoke at last year’s ICONS conference.