Transgender people will no longer be able to compete in women’s athletics as of March 31, the president of World Athletics, the world’s sports organization, announced this Thursday.
“Clear measures have been taken to protect the female category in our sport by limiting the participation of transgender and intersex athletes,” said Sebastian Coe.
Most of the stakeholders consulted “felt that transgender athletes should not compete in the women’s category,” Coe explained.
“For many, the evidence that transgender women do not retain advantages over biological women is not enough. They want more evidence before considering inclusion in the female categories,” Coe continued.
Current regulations require transgender athletes who wish to compete in the women’s category to maintain testosterone levels below 5 nmol/L for one year.
On the other hand, intersex athletes such as famous South African Caster Semenya must, from April 2018, also keep this figure below the benchmark, but for six months, in order to compete at a distance of 400 meters to a mile.
The regulation has been criticized by Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion in the 800 meters, who refuses to undergo hormonal treatment or surgery and lost her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS).
In November 2021, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) asked sports federations to set their own criteria to allow transgender and intersex people to compete in top competition.