About us

The Women’s Sports Union

The Women’s Sports Union is a not-for-profit organisation of like-minded people passionate about fair and safe sport for women and girls. We champion the right of every female to participate in sports regardless of age, race, ability, or background.

Our mission is simple: to protect and grow spaces where women and girls are seen, heard, supported, celebrated and given their sex based rights to equal opportunity.

From grassroots to juniors, recreational, and all the way through to professional and elite performers, we are here to ensure that women’s achievements are recognised, protected and valued.

Led by Olympic medallist Sharron Davies MBE and supported by a coalition of respected sportspeople, legal experts and policymakers, the WSU seeks to restore, enforce, and future proof single sex sports categories at all levels, as well as grow and cultivate better sporting opportunities for all females of all ages.

The Women’s Sports Union
Who we are

Advocates for Women’s Sports Rights

Sharron Davies MBE

Olympic Silver medalist, Women’s rights activist & free speech advocate.

CEO of The WSU

sharrondavies@thewsu.com

Sharron Davies MBE is an Olympic swimmer who competed in three Olympic Games in three different decades. She won medals at all major internationals, including the Olympics and then spent the next 35 years poolside as a sports journalist, working in the media.

Sharron hasn’t missed an Olympic Games since 1976. She competed at her first international when she was 11 and the last at 31.

Author of Unfair Play, The Battle for Women’s Sport, shortlisted by The Times and The Telegraph as sports book of the year

More about Sharron Buy Unfair Play Here

Tracy Edwards MBE

Superstar Round The World Yachtswoman, Captain of the all-female crew of Maiden, Women’s rights activist and charity CEO

Company Secretary of The WSU

tracyedwards@thewsu.com

Tracy Edwards MBE is a round-the-world sailor who skippered Maiden; the first all-female crew to ever sail around the world. She then went on to skipper RSA, the first all-female crew to attempt the non-stop round the world record and broke many world records. In 2014, Tracy created The Maiden Factor Foundation, raising funds and awareness for girls’ education.

More about Tracy Watch Tracy’s TED Talk Watch The Maiden Factor Video

Our Advisory Board

List of Advisory Board Members

Judy Murray OBE

Renowned tennis coach and mother of champions Andy and Jamie Murray, Judy has dedicated her career to developing grassroots tennis and advocating for greater opportunities for women and girls in sport.

Dr. Michele Verokken

An international authority on sports integrity and governance, Michele has worked extensively in anti-doping, fair play, and safeguarding, ensuring transparency and accountability across sporting bodies.

Daley Thompson CBE

Double Olympic decathlon champion and one of Britain’s most celebrated athletes, Daley brings unmatched experience and passion for protecting fairness and opportunity in sport at every level.

Barry McGuigan MBE

British, European and WBA World Featherweight Boxing Champion. BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Inductee into the International Boxing Hall of fame. Barry supports women’s boxing and was pleased to see that World Boxing brought in mandatory sex screening in 2025 to protect the female category.

Baroness Kate Hoey

A lifelong campaigner for fairness in sport and politics, Kate has been a strong voice in Parliament on issues of integrity, safeguarding, and women’s participation in sport.
Kate was also Northern Ireland’s High Jump champion and UK Sports Minister from 1999-2001

Professor Jon Pike

Professor of Philosophy at the Open University. Political philosopher on the ethics and metaphysics of sport at the Open University Gender Critical Research Network.

Jon Benjamin

CEO of the Free Speech Union International. Retired British Diplomat. Ex British Ambassador to Chile, Ghana and Mexico. Jon works to defend open debate and fair expression — values that are critical in ensuring honest discussion about safeguarding and equality in sport.

Cathy Devine

Cathy is an academic involved in independent research and consultancy on sports policy who has been invited into Westminster many times to advise. She is a passionate feminist philosopher and was a senior lecturer at the University of Cumbria for over twenty years.

Ross Tucker

Eminent Sports scientist, PhD in Exercise Physiology. Presenter of the much respected Science of Sport podcast. Science and research consultant for World Rugby, who was the first international federation to recognise the dangers of including males in the female game and took steps to protect their female players’ access to fair and safe sport.

Karen Pickering MBE

World & Commonwealth swimming gold medalist, Karen has won numerous medals at major championships during a hugely successful career lasting twenty years at the very top. She was a chair of The Athletes Commission between 2004 and 2016, and is now a swim coach and mother of twin girls.

Caroline Bondy

Caroline Bondy qualified as a solicitor at one of London’s leading media law firms and is now a strategic communications leader with extensive experience shaping narratives, building brands and championing equity across the global travel and lifestyle sectors.

International Supporters & Advisers

Nancy Hogshead

CEO of Champion Women, American civil rights lawyer, three times Olympic swimming gold medalist, passionate advocate for Title IX & fighting for sexual abuse victims in sport, after suffering a rape attack herself whilst in full training.

Senator Claire Chandler

Is a Senator in Australia’s federal parliament, and since her election in 2019 has fearlessly advocated for women’s and girls’ rights, including the preservation of the female sporting category. In 2022, she introduced the Save Women’s Sports Bill to protect single sex sports in federal law.

Dr. Linda Blade

A brilliant sports performance coach and an ex-Olympic heptathlete for Canada, Linda has a PhD in Kinesiology and wrote Unsporting, how trans activism and science denial are destroying sport.

Jennifer Sey

Founder and CEO of XX_XY Athletics Sports Wear, where she is helping to give young American athletes a voice. Author of Levi’s Unbuttoned & Chalked up, written after a very impressive and lucrative managerial career in retail was cut short by cancel culture and woke activism.

Inga Thompson

A true superstar in the world of women’s cycling, three-time Olympian, 10-time national US Champion, twice podium finisher of The Women’s Tour De France, and passionate advocate for equal opportunities for women in sport.

Riley Gaines

Riley has been incredibly brave speaking out about fair sport for women after racing trans identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas at the US national college championships. She’s become a go-to voice with her podcast, Gaines for Girls on Outkick and best-selling author of Swimming Against the Current.

Carilyn Johnson

US attorney who’s passionate about fairness and equity in women’s sports, a four-times Team USA Ultrarunner, winning two golds and silver at World Championships.

Icons

The Independent Council for Women’s Sport in the USA. Advocating for female athletes, founded by NCAA & PAC swimming champion Marshi Smith & World University Games tennis player and Stanford Athletic board member Kim Jones, they are supporting lawsuits against the NCAA, Mountain West and the Ivy League.

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eilishmccolgan

Eilish McColgan
@eilishmccolgan
·

8 May

Why do mens road 10K times qualify for Bham 2026 but not women? The men have pacers in these races so what’s the difference?

Track 10,000m races are becoming extinct like the dinosaurs. So why restrict women to “women-only” races while men have 100s of chances in mixed races?


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