Radcliffe in ‘equality’ row
Runner’s fears over longer race distance for women
UK Athletics is likely to become embroiled in an equality row after a group of high-profile British female runners, including Paula Radcliffe and Laura Muir, staunchly opposed the body’s drive to equalise race distances in cross-country.
Earlier this month, UKA circulated a survey to cross-country clubs to gauge opinion on how distances could be equalised after acknowledging “there could be greater equality” in the winter sport.
The move was welcomed by Run
Equal, a campaign group that advocates equal status in athletics and has spent the past three years lobbying UKA to address what it believes is “blatant sexism” in cross-country.
But the issue has provoked a huge backlash from some of Britain’s most successful female endurance runners, who say they are “saddened by the suggestion that our past performances are viewed as somehow lacking, simply because we raced shorter distances than men”.
In a joint statement drafted by
former English National winner Mara Yamauchi, the athletes warn that equalising cross-country distances could have “far-reaching consequences” for the sport and lead to drop-off rates among women and girls.
They also question why UKA is considering the move while the organisation’s head of endurance position remains vacant and criticise UKA for pressing ahead with the consultation without having consulted its own Athletes’ Commission.
UKA’S new chief executive, Joanna Coates, is believed to be one of the main drivers behind equalising distance in cross-country, which has been a thorny issue since World Athletics equalised 10kilometre distances for both genders at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships.
Among the 23 signatories are current athletes Charlotte Purdue and Laura Weightman, along with Joyce Smith, the former international cross-country gold medallist and winner of the London Marathon in 1981 and 1982.
Part of the statement reads: “The campaign group Runequal claims that ‘an unequal race distance … gives the message your race isn’t as important, you aren’t as capable and you aren’t being welcomed on equal terms’. We disagree. This has never been part of our lived experience.”
It adds: “The physical advantages men acquire compared to women from puberty are well known. These advantages mean that, in some sports, event specifications should be different, for good reason. We believe cross-country, at [a] competitive level, is one such event.
“There are many events in athletics alone which have different specifications. This does not mean women are weak or inferior.
“It is a question of what specifications suit men and women, and what makes for meaningful and exciting competition.”