Every four years (or three, if a pandemic wills it), the world’s gaze is interrupted and captured by the Olympics for two and a half weeks of athletic and sporting intrigue. The format is deceptively simple for an event of this scale: thousands of competitors across various disciplines come together, competing across multiple rounds to discern who is stronger, faster or more skilled.

The noble spirit of the Olympics is that “the most important thing is not to win but to take part”. Unfortunately, participants must represent their nation, and divisions by sex are prominent. While physical sports are divided by gender to acknowledge different physical advantages, non-physical sports like shooting and chess also remain segregated. This raises a pertinent question: why?..

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