(Reuters) – The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) condemned the “objectification of the human body” and issued an apology to Austria’s Johanna Farber for images broadcast during the World Championships in Moscow last week.
Multiple media reports cited criticism of the event’s broadcaster for showing a close-up replay of Farber, which they called inappropriate, while she was competing in the women’s boulder semi-finals.
“The IFSC would like to deeply apologise to Johanna Farber, Austria Climbing, all the athletes and the entire sport climbing community for the images that were broadcast… during the women’s boulder semi-final,” IFSC said in a statement https://www.ifsc-climbing.org/index.php/news/620-ifsc-official-statement-3.
“The IFSC condemns the objectification of the human body and will take further action in order for it to stop, and to protect the athletes.”
The IFSC’s host broadcaster had apologised https://twitter.com/ifsclimbing/status/1408786123778891777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1408786123778891777%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidethegames.biz%2Farticles%2F1109492%2Fifsc-world-cup-innsbruck-garnbret to Farber during the World Cup in Innsbruck in June for a similar issue, saying that they would strive to represent women’s sports better.
IFSC President Marco Scolaris said after the latest incident in Moscow: “How many times will things have to be done wrong, before we learn how to do them right?”
Climbing made its Olympic debut in the Tokyo Games earlier this year.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
