The International
Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) has apologised to Austrian climber Johanna
Farber after close-up shots of her bottom were broadcast during the World
Championships in Russia. According to US media reports, the championships’
official broadcaster had aired a close-up replay of the athlete’s bottom during
the bolder semifinals.

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This is not the
first time that the 23-year-old athlete had experienced inappropriate coverage
of her event. In June this year, after a similar incident, Johanna Farber had asked
for people to “stop sexualising women in sports and start to appreciate their
performance.”

In their apology
to Johanna Farber, the IFSC said, “The International Federation of Sport Climbing
would like to deeply apologise to Johanna Farber, Austria Climbing, all the
athletes, and the Sport Climbing community for the images that were broadcast
today during the women’s Boulder semi-final at the IFSC Climbing World
Championships Moscow 2021.”

“The IFSC condemns
the objectification of the human body and will take immediate action in order
for it to stop, and to protect the athletes. After meeting with representatives
of the Austrian team, IFSC President Marco Scolaris issued the following
comment: “How many times will things have to be done wrong, before we learn how
to do them right?”

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During the World
Cup in June, broadcaster ORF came under severe criticism for airing inappropriate
images of the athlete. The network had reportedly broadcast a slow-motion
sequence which zoomed in on the athlete’s posterior. The incident had triggered
furious backlash over the objectification of women’s bodies.

Following the
incident, Johanna Farber had shared a message on Instagram stating that she had
found the coverage “disrespectful and upsetting”, adding that she was left embarrassed
that thousands of people saw the coverage on national television and social
media. ORF issued an apology to Farber.