FLEXIBILITY is one of the bywords which I feel perfectly sums up 2020/21. In this time of continued uncertainty, we have all had to be flexible in our plans while we try to second-guess the future, all the time knowing any plans we make may need to be cancelled or changed at the last minute.
With this in mind I am hoping there will be flexibility required ahead of the re-scheduled 2020 Olympic Games being staged in July and August.
Named last week as one of four shooters selected for Team GB was Seonaid McIntosh, the 2017 UWS Sportswomen of the Year at the Scottish Women in Sport Awards and Britain’s most successful female rifle shooter of all time.
This will be her first Olympics, but I don’t think it will be the last. Fingers crossed that despite the current odds, the Games will go ahead.
What is astounding to learn is that Seonaid has reached these heights while living with rheumatoid arthritis, for which she requires daily medication.
This resonates with the story of tennis player Francesca Jones who has qualified for her first Grand Slam tournament, despite a rare genetic condition which meant she was born with only three fingers and a thumb on each hand, four toes on her left foot, and three toes on her right.
In more disturbing news, I read about Yves Jean-Bart, the former chief of the Haitian Football Federation, who was found guilty by Fifa of having sexually harassed and abused female players, including minors.
This is shocking and a dreadful abuse of power, and I am concerned that there may be other stories of the same ilk that remain buried deep within the horror of those who have suffered.
We need to weed out these individuals from whatever sport they lurk in and ensure they are removed at speed. We also need to empower our young women to be confident enough to say no and to report any such pressure or abuse of power, and that, at all times, they be listened to.
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