Athletics body eager to do more for women

World Athletics has a three-year action plan to empower women across several areas such as coaching and officiating, which the governing body says will position the sport as a global model for equity and inclusion.

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LONDON -

It announced the gender leadership task force's strategic plan on March 7, on the eve of International Women's Day on March 8, while including some sobering global statistics.

While the World Athletics council achieved gender parity with 50 per cent representation in 2023, it has not been matched in leadership positions throughout the sport's membership.

And while 40 per cent of the international technical officials in athletics at the 2024 Olympics were women, just 27 per cent of World Athletics' 152 gold-level referees are female.