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Canadian boxer Mandy Bujold is taking the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to court for ‘discriminating against women.’ Bujold has mounted a legal challenge in an attempt to allow the 11-time Canadian national champion to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Bujold, who is now 33, was planning to qualify for the Games this month but the planned qualifying event was cancelled due to the ongoing problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Footage filmed on Thursday shows Bujold discussing the situation while training at the TNT Boxing and Fitness Academy in Kitchener.
“America’s Olympic qualifier was cancelled a few weeks ago. That was our only shot at qualifying for Tokyo. There were four spots available at that event for me to qualify. Now that that has been cancelled, the IOC [International Olympic Committee] boxing task force has decided to put together their own criteria on how the athletes within the Americas will qualify. The events that they have decided on are all within an 11-month span, during which time that I was actually having my daughter or post-partum,” explained Bujold.
“The fact that we’re talking about equality in sports and human rights, equity for people right now, and then they are doing something like this. Even though the messaging they have been consistently putting out there is quite the opposite.” Bujold went on to say.
Bujold has taken her case to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport). Her lawyer stated that they will file an urgent order to request that the qualification process is halted until this matter is resolved. The postponed Olympics in Tokyo is set to start on 23 July.
The Canadian flyweight has a huge past in the sport, Bujold is a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and two-time Pan American champion. She finished fifth at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and wants the IOC to use her ranking before she got pregnant to help decide who gets a spot in Tokyo.
“This whole process, we’re trying to get this expedited, because obviously the Olympics are weeks away. So hopefully we can come to some sort of an agreement,” remarked Bujold.
#MandyBujold #Olympics
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