A little over three years ago, the official motto of the Olympic games was changed. The change added a single word to the original “Faster, Higher, Stronger” motto. That single word was “Together”, which reflects the unifying power of sport and the importance of solidarity. I hope to echo that Olympic principle in my remarks today, particularly as we mark Scottish women and girls in sport week, with the campaign slogan “Let’s Move Together!”

It was only 100 years ago, after the women’s suffrage movement of the 1920s, that progress was made in women’s participation in sport. We were finally included in track and field events at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, despite severe opposition and extreme sexism. The women who participated faced misogynistic fearmongering, with people stating that the women would become sterile, weak or too masculine. Lina Radke of Germany set a world record at the 1928 games for running 800m, but the media falsely reported that most of the female runners collapsed from exhaustion, even faking images to support the claim. That led to a nationwide ban on women running races over 200m. What was it that those people feared the most? Was it finding out that women were not weak and masculine but, in fact, capable and that feminine can be exceptionally strong?

The torrent of misogynistic abuse faced by female boxers Imane Khelif, who represented Algeria, and Lin Yu-ting, who represented Taiwan, is horrendous. Here are two women—minoritised ethnic women, I might add—at the pinnacle of their sport, which has a long and recent history of excluding women, with it only being as recently as 2012 that women were allowed to box competitively for the first time at the Olympics.

When the referees raised Lin’s and Khelif’s hands in their respective 57kg and 66kg finals this summer, those two women, who were born female, raised female and possessing female passports, made history by winning their countries’ first gold medals in boxing. Their deserved victories, however, were immediately tainted by those who challenged, without basis, their very womanhood. Where once women were denied participation in boxing because of their womanhood, their womanhood was being denied because they overcame all odds to excel to the top of their sport. The were too masculine, some decried, a hundred years on. Shameful.

It is on that note that I think that Tess White’s motion has fallen short, and I am disappointed that it raises again concerns about the gender eligibility of athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which I addressed with an amendment to a similar motion of hers just weeks ago. The International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, said that the hate speech that was directed at boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting at the Paris Olympics was “totally unacceptable”, and I agree with him. I also agree with these words of his:

“We will not take part in a politically motivated … cultural war”.

The widespread disinformation and misinformation about the eligibility of the two women to compete in the Olympic games was harmful not only to those women who are at the peak of their sport but to the young women and girls who might see the abuse and decide against pursuing their passions or dreams, perhaps just because they do not fit whatever version of women is deemed to be acceptable to some.

Sport has the power to break barriers and challenge outdated norms, but only when we stand together in the face of adversity. We must continue to champion a future where all women are included, no matter what their background or body type. By confronting disinformation, standing against exclusion and fostering true inclusion, we will build a society where every woman and girl can pursue their dreams without fear. It is only then that, like the motto says, we will all move faster, higher and stronger together.