With the 2021 Tokyo Olympics underway, several female track athletes have been barred from competition. One Olympic gold medalist, Brianna McNeal, missed a mandatory drug test months ago and recently revealed that it was due to her abortion two days prior. McNeal was lying in bed recovering “under mental and physical trauma” and was “physically and emotionally drained” when the anti-doping official came to her home.

Retired Olympian Sanya Richards-Ross had an abortion just one day before leaving for the 2008 Beijing Games. She later stated, “I literally don’t know another female track and field athlete who hasn’t had an abortion — and that’s sad.” Sanya made it clear that it was her desire to help young women avoid the experience she and McNeal had gone through and claimed similar experiences could be avoided through improved sexual education.