A petition to strip Caitlyn Jenner of a 1976 Olympic gold medal has recently gained support on the Internet and social media. (RELATED: When Will Caitlyn Jenner Give Back The Gold Medal She — Yes, SHE — Won)
The petition states that, “Ms. Jenner claims that she has always believed herself to be truly female, and therefore, was in violation of committee rules regarding women competing in men’s sports and vice versa,” and it hinges upon the acceptance of TWO facts:
1) Caitlyn Jenner is a woman and always has been.
2) Caitlyn Jenner, as a woman, won the gold medal in decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal.
As a woman, Jenner — based on the rules of the international track community — should not be have been allowed to compete to in the 1976 decathlon, but that does not change the fact that she’s the ONLY WOMAN to physically outperform her opponents in an international decathlon. In fact, there is no such thing as international women’s decathlon, and one could argue Jenner’s performance — which again, is the ONLY time a woman has EVER competed in international decathlon at ANY LEVEL — is nothing short of ground-breaking.
The logic of the petition is sound. Caitlyn Jenner SHOULD #GiveBackTheGold, but that doesn’t mean her athletic accomplishments should go unrecognized. Therefore, The Daily Caller reached out to the Women’s Sports Foundation for comment.
Established by tennis legend and LGBT hero Billie Jean King in 1974, the WSF is “dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity.”
Additionally, the WSF curates the “International Women’s Sports Hall Of Fame,” inducting members, “based on achievements, breakthroughs [and] innovative style,” but when asked if the Foundation plans on adding Jenner to its list of Hall Of Fame members, a spokesperson told TheDC, “Ummm, I don’t know if this falls in our wheelhouse.”
Not in our wheelhouse? Really?
Furthermore, TheDC was told that, “normally, athletes aren’t even looked at, you know, in terms of their past accomplishments.”
Though that would appear to be in stark contrast to the Hall of Fame’s criteria, “for nomination [stating that] an athlete must be retired from her sport for at least five years,” and the fact that they also have a “Pioneer” category that, “recognizes the athletic achievements of those who have competed at least 25 years prior to the present year.”
Finally, it should be noted that though initially rattled, the Foundation assured TheDC they would follow-up after, “speaking with Deborah [Slaner Larkin], our CEO” about the issue.