Senior Leaders from International Sport Attend IWG Event

Wednesday 31st July saw the IWG and the British Embassy Paris host a successful ‘Women In Sport’ event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in conjunction with UK Sport.

Over 150 guests were welcomed into the British Ambassador’s Residence, including senior leaders from International Federations and National Governing Bodies, Sports Ministers, athletes and media.

Dame Menna Rawlings, His Majesty’s Ambassador to France, opened proceedings by welcoming the guests, highlighting her personal passion for the topic of women in sport. She celebrated what has been a fantastic gender equal games to date while acknowledging that sport hasn’t quite won the gold medal when it comes to gender equality and equity.

Annamarie Phelps CBE OLY, Chair of IWG, then joined the stage, thanking the Ambassador for her hospitality before introducing the IWG and providing an overview of the network to the audience.

To bring to life how the IWG can support the international sports sector, Annamarie invited Sir Bill Beaumont GBE DL, Chair of World Rugby, Sally Horrox, Chief of Women’s Rugby at World Rugby, and Aurélie Groizeleau, former rugby international and current referee at French Rugby Federation, to the stage.

The group discussed the advancements within the women’s game, the challenges and the learnings, and what future success looks like.

Following the panel discussion, Sabrina Ibáñez, Secretary General for the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), presented on the importance of inclusive leadership in sport, drawing on experiences from the world of equestrian sport, stressing the importance of female role models and male allyship in creating a new generation of female leaders.

Sally and Aurélie rejoined Sabrina on-stage following the presentation, answering questions from the audience.

Lisa O’Keefe, Secretary General for IWG, said: “Wednesday was a very special opportunity for IWG, and it was a privilege to host an event at the Ambassador’s residence.

“Our guest speakers did a brilliant job in sharing their learnings with the audience, both online and via the live stream, with some fantastic and insightful questions from the guests in the room.

“While there were plenty of takeaway messages, for me what was really clear from World Rugby’s panel discussion was the business case to invest in women’s sport, and Sabrina’s presentation really reinforced the importance of inclusive leadership in sport with some useful advice on how to achieve that.

“My huge thanks to Dame Menna, her team at the British Embassy and UK Sport for allowing us such a fantastic platform to explain to an influential international audience about the purpose of the network.”

Pics Credit: Gabriel Gauffre, British Embassy, Paris