The World Athletics has confirmed the introduction of a cheek swab test to determine if an athlete is a female biologically.
The head of the International Track and Field, Sebastian Coe, made the announcement on Wednesday, describing it as a vital way of protecting the female category.
The tests would seek to verify if someone has transitioned to a female after going through male puberty or if they had differences of sex development that provided testosterone advantages.
He said, “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 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.”
Coe said the decision was taken after a wide consultation on the proposal, while expressing confidence that it would be free of legal implications.
He said, “Overwhelmingly, the view has come back that this is absolutely the way to go. You accept the fact that that is the world we live in.“ I would never have set off down this path to protect the female category in sport if I’d been anything other than prepared to take the challenge head-on.
“We’ve been to the Court of Arbitration on our DSD (difference of sex development) regulations.
“They have been upheld, and they have again been upheld after appeal. So we will doggedly protect the female category, and we’ll do whatever is necessary to do it.”
Testing providers are now being sought as athletes are expected to undergo the test just once in their careers.
The test is among several recommendations that have been approved at the World Athletics Council meeting to tighten regulations concerning the eligibility of transgender and differences of sex development (DSD) athletes.
The test for the SRY gene, which is “almost always on the male Y chromosome” and “is used as a highly accurate proxy for biological sex,” would need to be taken just once by an athlete during their career.
A cheek swab test would be used to look for the SRY gene, while a dried blood spot test could also be used to determine an athlete’s testosterone levels, in addition to the presence of the SRY gene.
In March 2023, World Athletics banned transgender athletes who had gone through male puberty from competing in the female category in international competition.
World Athletics Approves Test To Determine Athlete’s Gender is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Source: The Whistler
