Marathon runner David Malony from Wicklow is running this weekend’s Dublin Marathon and hopes to draw attention to the attack on women andgirls sports globally and in Ireland by wearing a Countess top with theslogan ‘Save Women’s Sport’.
Spokeswoman on sport for The Countess, Sorcha Nic Lochlainn, says ‘We are so proud to have David representing The Countess in the Dublin Marathon on Sunday and hope his “Save Women’s Sport” vest gets lots of comments.’
Speaking about the introduction of the non-binary category, Nic Lochlainn commented, ‘David’s expected finish time of 3:10 to 3:15 is similar to that estimated for the winners of the non-binary category. He doesn’t expect nor want a wining medal, given he arrives in 1 hour behind the first male and 45 minutes behind the first female. So why are these mediocre “non-binary” runners receiving national medals similar to the medals that the elite men and women have spent their lives trying to achieve? What makes those runners so special that they deserve a different category based on their internal feelings? The category of non-binary erodes the meaning of sex and undermines sport. It is essentially a second male category that rewards mediocrity.’
David explains why the issue of males competing against women is important to him:
I have been running marathons for almost 2 decades. I have run the Dublin marathon 13 times. My mother ran it twice over 40 years ago. I have a brother and sisters that have and still do run marathons. I have many many friends that ran and run them. I have chaired a running club with a long and brilliant history in marathon running. Women have never, don’t, and will never, compete with men in marathon running.
If men are allowed to compete with women, in time every record that was ever set by any woman will no longer exist. Every medal, gold, silver and bronze, will go to a man. Every sponsorship, award and sports grant will go to men that claim they are women. The amazing achievements of Fionnulla, Sonia, Courtney, Maria and many many women that achieved the best in class rewards of the time will all be wiped off the records. No Wikipedia search for great female Irish marathon runners will bring up their names. They will buried into some dusty archive. Why does any man who respects women want this to happen?’
In regards to the international issues in women’s sport, Nic Lochlainn said:
‘The Countess aims to protect the female category from policies that undermine it in the name of “inclusion”. Our stance is that no males, regardless of identity, should participate in women or girls sport, that sport is sex-segregated for a reason, and that the male advantage cannot be undone. We are against such participation at recreational as well as elite level, as for example Parkrun have a self-identification policy, which means any male can register a time in the female category and has resulted in the fraudulent breaking of women’s records on the popular app.
We hope to be able to protect the female category and get back to the business of supporting women and girls in sport through looking at female-specific issues, such as the effects of the menstrual cycle on training and performance, the greater risk of certain injuries in women (e.g. ACL in soccer players), and the lack of funding and opportunities.
These are the issues we should be looking at, not the inclusion of men who say they are women and the creation of third categories for mediocre males. It’s ridiculous that we have to fight this but we will keep fighting.’