Area Associations set gender equity actions as new Allyship Award announced at Gender Leadership Conference in Tokyo

All six Area Associations of World Athletics committed to specific actions and targets to advance gender equity within their organisations and the sport at the Gender Leadership Conference held in Tokyo on Wednesday (17).

World Athletics began a process of gender leadership reform under President Sebastian Coe as part of broader governance reforms that were rolled out in 2016. A target was set of achieving gender parity on the World Athletics Council by 2027, and that was achieved four years early, at the World Athletics Congress in Budapest in 2023.

All World Athletics Commissions have also achieved gender parity and attention has now turned to assisting the Area Associations and Member Federations to reach the same standards.  

Stephanie Hightower, Chair of World Athletics’ Gender Leadership Taskforce, said the Area Association and Member Federation commitments at the conference were designed to accelerate the advance of World Athletics’ reforms through all parts of the sport.

“We want to continue to accelerate on all those different levels, from coaches to administrators to officials,” Hightower said. “We want to keep it going and this is the way. I think what we saw here and what we heard here has been one of those vehicles that will help us to keep this movement going.”

Coe delivered an opening address to the conference in which he said he regarded the organisation’s progress on gender leadership as the proudest achievement of his presidency.

“When we embarked on our gender leadership journey, as a key part of our reforms back in 2016, we had long debates about setting targets and a realistic timeframe,” he said.

“This meant discussing the barriers for women within our sport, at all levels of our sport and in all areas. We were honest and, as uncomfortable as some of those discussions were, we sought to understand the barriers and come up with solutions. We also spent time to really explain, within the sport and outside it, why gender equity was, and still is, important. I think everyone in this room understands why. It has to be meaningful and authentic. I have always believed gender balanced organisations, leadership teams and boards, leads to better decisions.”

He said the sport must now “keep our collective foot on the pedal” to make these reforms sustainable.

 “We need to keep sharing our ambitions, setting and sharing goals, committing to the task,” he added. “Aspirations alone will not achieve what we want. We need action. So many other sports look to us to set the standard, but this not a standard anymore. We have proved that equity is the new norm for women in sport and every other sport on the planet needs to catch up.

“One thing I believe that sets us apart is our male advocacy. This is not just desirable, it is essential. Allyship, whether male, female or organisational, is the key to meeting our collective ambition.

“We know we have more to do. We need a special focus on coaching and technical officials, but it is not just identifying pathways, it is also about making sure the roles we have are attractive to women.”

Hightower endorsed Coe’s focus on male advocacy, saying this would help to maintain the momentum and embed gender equity throughout the sport.

“The allyship piece is really important, and we saw the number of men that we have here today and that’s really what we want to be able to do, is continue to build on allyship so that we can continue this momentum and the legacy that Seb Coe has put into place for women in leadership in World Athletics,” she said.

The first female president of the Japanese Association of Athletics Federations, Yuko Arimori, also addressed the gathering of athletics leaders, remarking that without the reforms of the last 10 years, she would not be in a leadership position now.

“If we go back 10 years, nobody would have thought that a woman would be president of a sports federation in a very traditional country like Japan,” she said. “I believe it’s essential to create equal opportunities for men and women.”

Reddit co-founder and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, who has created the female-only athletics league Athlos, sent a video message in which he endorsed male allyship and exhorted the attendees to take meaningful action.

“When women lead, everyone wins,” he said. “When you leave this conference, don’t just talk, act.”

Long-time Council Member and gender equality campaigner Abby Hoffman, and Olympic champions Valerie Adams, now the Athletes’ Commission Chair, and Joanna Hayes, now the Director of Track and Field and Cross Country at UCLA, also shared their experiences of leadership.

In the closing segment of the conference, each Area Association pledged to do more on gender equity and leadership, outlining their specific goals to the attending delegates.

The North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) intends to focus on refereeing and coaching to improve gender equity, vowing to introduce a quota of two female referees for each international event.

It will also support its Member Federations to identify and recruit female coaches and referees, and improve pathways to aid their progress.

Asian Athletics will focus on capacity-building, education, coach development and regional conferences, while Oceania will look at creating an environment for women to feel more empowered, and will introduce internships at both Area and Member level to enhance skills.

South America will also focus on training and education, expanding programmes for coaches, officials and leaders. It also intends to include more women in delegations and embrace constitutional reform to remove barriers to female leadership.

Africa has also earmarked education and training, constitutional changes, and mentoring in which it can make improvement, while Europe will work on education, clearer pathways, policies and internships.

Hightower closed the conference by announcing that World Athletics would create a new Allyship Award, to be presented on International Women’s Day 2026, to recognise an organisation or person who has done exceptional work to empower women in the sport.

She also revealed the Taskforce planned to create an Executive Leadership Academy, which would offer a 12-month training course to provide aspiring female leaders with the skills they needed.

Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics