Olympic chiefs have blocked transgender and certain DSD athletes from all women’s sports after announcing mandatory sex testing under new rules.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says that a once-in-a-lifetime SRY gene test will help ‘protect fairness, safety and integrity in the female category’.
It comes after World Athletics made it compulsory for female athletes to take the test to take part in major championships or Diamond League events last year.
That decision followed high-profile controversies involving the boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting at the Paris 2024 Olympics after claims that they had failed gender eligibility tests with the International Boxing Association (IBA).
Any athletes with a Disorder of Sex Development (DSD) must prove that they ‘do not benefit from the anabolic and/or performance-enhancing effects of testosterone’.
Khelif, who won gold in the women’s welterweight boxing category at the 2024 Paris Olympics, has consistently denied being transgender and taken treatment to lower testosterone levels.
The Algerian is also open to taking a sex test to compete, saying last month: ‘Of course, I would accept doing anything I’m required to do to participate in competitions. They should protect women, but they need to pay attention that while protecting women, they shouldn’t hurt other women.’
IOC president Kirsty Coventry said: ‘As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition. The policy that we have announced is based on science and has been led by medical experts.
‘At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”
‘Every athlete must be treated with dignity and respect, and athletes will need to be screened only once in their lifetime. There must be clear education around the process and counselling available, alongside expert medical advice.’
More than 80 human rights and sport advocacy groups recently called on the IOC to abandon their plans for mandatory sex testing.
More to follow.
