Olympic committee won't strip Bruce Jenner of his gold medal despite clamour
Despite the clamour of some people urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Obama administration to revoke Bruce Jenner's gold medal won in the decathlon event of the 1976 Olympic Summer Games in Montreal, Canada, given his recent sex change, the committee has no plans to do so.
There has been an online petition urging the Obama administration to revoke Jenner's 1976 gold medal, saying: "As we all know, Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner) is an Olympic gold medalist. Good for her, except there's one problem. If Caitlyn has always been a woman, then she should NOT have competed on the men's side in the 1976 Olympics and should give up her medals."
The petition was made by someone from Mansfield, Massachusetts, and needs at least 100,000 signatures by July 1 before it could get an official reply from the Obama administration. However, as of Tuesday only 200 people have so far expressed their agreement with the petition.
Meanwhile, Mark Adams, communications director for the Switzerland-based Olympic Committee, told The Christian Post that they have no problems at all with Jenner's win.
"Bruce Jenner won his gold medal in 1976 Olympic Games and there is no issue for the IOC," said Adams.
The IOC has actually been rocked by issues concerning their intersex and transgender athletes in the past. Back in 1932, Polish-born Stella Walsh won a gold medal in the women's 100-meter race. But several years after her death, it was discovered that she had a chromosomal disorder called mosaicism, which meant that she had sexually ambiguous genitalia.
Jenner confirmed his gender transition surgery in the July issue of Vanity Fair magazine. The cover showed Jenner donning bouncy brown curls and a short dress. It was titled, "Call Me Caitlyn."
"Bruce always had to tell a lie, he was always living that lie. Every day he always had a secret. From morning until night. Caitlyn doesn't have any secrets. As soon as the Vanity Fair cover comes out, I'm free," he said in the video promoting the magazine.