In celebration of International Women’s Day, ITU President & IOC Member Marisol Casado shares a message to the triathlon community on the benefits of empowering women in sport.
I’m really proud to be part of an organization that has always supported gender balance. Not only we do have strong and inspiring female athletes in all of our races, we have women involved at every level of triathlon including technical officials, coaches, leading federations, and as a part of organizing committees. We believe in women, we empower women, and we encourage them to keep on breaking the glass ceiling around the world.
It is also very special for me to be part of all the celebrations and activities around International Women’s Day. This year, it was an honor to participate at the second International Federations Women in Leadership Forum, organized by ASOIF and the IOC. I was not alone at the Forum, as I was joined by ITU Executive Board Member Debbie Alexander, as well as Secretary General of the Malaysian Triathlon Federation, Melody Tan. They are two great examples of women who have worked really hard to make our sport better.
In sport, we still have a huge lack of female leaders, which needs to change. In order to have more women in responsibility roles within the IOC and International Federations, we need to encourage them to take on greater responsibilities in their National Federations, Clubs, and teams.
It has been fantastic to share knowledge with all of the women and men participating in the Forum, as well as mentoring the next generation in their fields of expertise. Women bring important skills and different perspectives to sport organisations, which not only enrich the sport landscape but our communities in general.
It’s extremely important that both genders work together to create these opportunities. It’s on all of us to keep on working on having more female leaders in sports.