Those celebrating President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports are now calling on the NCAA to follow new testing procedures from World Athletics.
World Athletics announced this week cheek swabbing to determine once and for all if an athlete is a biological woman, with pressure from Trump’s decision playing a role.
Now, with the transgender ban signed into law, supporters such as former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines are proclaiming American college sports do the same.
‘World Athletics has announced they will verify sex via cheek swabs at the elite level. Good! Cheek swabs are: non-invasive, cheap, effective, necessary for ensuring fairness for female athletes,’ Gaines said on X. ‘@NCAA should follow suit.’
The global body’s president Sebastian Coe said the decision taken by the World Athletics Council was further evidence his organization would ‘doggedly’ protect the female category.
No timeline for the introduction of pre-clearance testing has been officially set out, but the PA news agency reports World Athletics’ intention is to have the testing in place for athletes wanting to compete in the female category at the World Championships in Tokyo in September.
Athletics chief Lord Sebastian Coe (left) has introduced bombshell new measures relating to transgender athletes after months of campaigning from US president Donald Trump (right)
The presence of Blaire Fleming on the San Jose State volleyball team caused controversy
Coe said on Tuesday: ‘It’s important to do it because it maintains everything that we’ve been talking about, and particularly recently, about not just talking about the integrity of female women’s sport, but actually guaranteeing it.
‘We feel this is a really important way of providing confidence and maintaining that absolute focus on the integrity of competition.’
Former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies, who has spoken out vehemently on the issue of trans athletes competing in women’s events, was delighted by the news on Tuesday and called for medals to be re-issued for ‘unfairly robbed’ women.
She posted on social media platform X: ‘No more cheating in track and fields by males in a category for females. I’d very much like to see medals re issued for events ruined and women unfairly robbed!’
The Education Department, headed up by former WWE executive Linda McMahon, has also urged athletics associations to vacate awards and records held by transgender women, amid a slew of controversial circumstances.
Earlier this year, a female college volleyball team forfeited a series of games against San Jose State over objections to trans player Blaire Fleming being on the team.
Wyoming star Macey Boggs said at the time: ‘I implore you to stop this injustice and preserve the future of female athletics.
‘I was [denied] the chance to play my final collegiate matches because we faced a situation no woman should have to face: either compete against a team rostering a male athlete on a woman’s scholarship, robbing us of fair and safe competition, or forfeit the rest of our season.’
