IOC’s biological female policy sparks debate across sport

From 2028, women’s events in all Olympic sports will be limited to biological females, says the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC says that the sex of each athlete will be determined by a “one-time” gene test which would screen for the SRY gene “via saliva, cheek swab, or blood sample”. The IOC says this is unintrusive compared with other possible testing methods.

This testing method has been used by the IOC before, in the 1990s, but was abolished by 2000 after numerous ‘false positives’. It would now mean that many women with differences in sexual development (DSD) and transgender women would be prevented from competing. Athletes who fail the test, the IOC says, would “continue to be included in all other classifications for which they qualify.”

In 2021, former IOC president Thomas Bach said that sex eligibility criteria should vary based on sport and that “there is no one-size-fits-all solution”. In what seems a complete U-turn, The current IOC president Kirsty Coventry has stated that having “biological males” in the female category is unfair and often unsafe, adding that the new policy is the product of a review led by “medical experts”.

Consensus that male sex confers performance advantage in all sports and events that rely on strength, power, and/or endurance

The IOC says its new approach is responsive to “relevant ethical, human rights, legal, scientific and medical developments” since 2021, including the “consensus that male sex confers performance advantage in all sports and events that rely on strength, power, and/or endurance”. The IOC says it consulted with athletes prior to the decision, coming to the conclusion that “protecting the female category is a common priority.” Many athletes and experts, however, are against the change.

US runner Nikki Hiltz, who is transgender and non-binary, argues the decision is trying to solve a non-existent problem and said: “Zero trans women competed in the Paris Olympics. Only one trans woman weightlifter competed in Tokyo 2021, and she did not win a medal. Can we please stop obsessing over trans people?”

There are real ethical problems about genetic testing of a large number of people

On SRY testing, Professor Alun Williams, a sports scientist at Manchester Metropolitan University, said: “There are real ethical problems about genetic testing of a large number of people – many of whom are younger than 18 – and revealing potentially life-changing information to them about their personal biology.” He calls the return to this testing method an “over-simplification”.

Williams also says that while there is strong evidence of the physical advantage of transgender people, the evidence of advantage for those with DSD is “highly disputed”. Olympic champion Caster Semenya was born with ’46 XY 5-ARD’, a DSD which means she has male XY chromosomes but was recorded as female at birth. She says the policy is “a disrespect for women”.

SRY screening is more humane than requiring DSD
athletes to undergo testosterone suppression

Supporters of the policy, however, say that SRY screening is more humane than requiring DSD athletes to undergo testosterone suppression, something which until now has been relied on in female competitions by women with DSD and transgender women.

The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, has welcomed the new policy, saying it is “rooted in common sense, facts, and science.” Oppositely, a joint statement by over 100 human rights, sports and scientific groups has criticised the IOC’s new guidelines as “a blunt and discriminatory response that is not supported by science and violates international human rights law”.