The World’s Athletics Athletes Commission has brought upon World Athletics to push to create change and prevent violence on athletes. The Olympian Rebecca Cheptegi is the third athlete this year to be killed in Kenya within the last three years. Her death came about after a 10 km world record holder, Agnes Tirop, was stabbed not long before, and six months later, the long-distance runner, Damaris Mutua, was strangled to death. The deaths are occurring close to each other, and protection for female athletes has to be paid more attention. The chair of the athletes commission, Valerie Adams, has stated to BBC Sports, “In a sport as diverse and universal as athletics, it is rare to see athletes from different countries, disciplines and socioeconomic backgrounds agree on something as unanimously as the topic of gender-biased violence. The Athletes Commission stated in a statement, “Gender-biased violence is a global issue, with all 18 different countries across all six areas highlighting the impact and extent of gender-biased violence in their regions.” Let’s see if World Athletics takes action around this issue and continues to spread awareness for the protection of female athletes.
