A Modest Decision

Kulsoom Abdullah, U.S. weightlifter

Kulsoom Abdullah, an American weightlifter from Atlanta was not going to be able to compete in the U.S. Championship this month because, as a Muslim woman, she could not conform to the regulations for dress required by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).  Both the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Weightlifting Federation appealed to the IWF for a change in the regulations so that Abdullah could wear a form fitting "unitard" under the regulation dress.  The change would allow her to conform to her faith's expectations for modesty in dress while still allowing judges to judge her performance (source).  On June 29th, the IWF announced changes in its dress code that will allow Muslim women to compete at all levels of international weightlifting.  In the news release announcing its official decision on its website, the IWF stated,

"Weightlifting is an Olympic Sport open for all athletes to participate without discrimination on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, age, or national origin in accordance with the principles of the Olympic Charter and values." states Dr Tamas Ajan, IWF President and Honorary IOC member, "This rule modification has been considered in the spirit of fairness, equality and inclusion."

 The rule change is also a peaceable act of good common sense that corrects something that unnecessarily separated us one from another.  It makes our world just that much better than it was before.  In a fracturing world, this is exactly the kind of thing we need.  As Christians, we sense the work of the Spirit in this event and are thankful.  Amen.

For a background article on Abdullah and her dream to compete for the U. S. in the Olympics see (here).