World Athletics Council bans transgender people from women’s athletics

The Council of the International Federation of Athletics (World Athletics) has banned athletes who have made a transgender transition from male to female after puberty from participating in women’s international athletics competitions from March 31, announced press office organizations.

The Council also approved new rules for athletes with sexual developmental disabilities (DSD). To compete in women’s competitions, such athletes will need to maintain testosterone levels below 2.5 nmol/L for a minimum of 24 months.

The World Athletics press office said that in February and January, the council consulted with various stakeholders, including member federations, the IOC and representatives of transgender rights organizations. The press release states that more than a decade of research suggests that transgender people have a physical advantage in women’s competition.

“However, there are currently no transgender athletes competing internationally in athletics and therefore there is no concrete evidence of the impact these athletes will have on the fairness of competition for women in athletics,” the organization noted.

The Council agreed to establish a working group that will operate throughout the year to further consider the inclusion of transgender people in competitions. It will include, among other things, an independent chairman, up to three World Athletics board members, a transgender athlete, three representatives of national federations and representatives of the World Athletics health and science department.

In November 2021, the IOC published a new concept of gender identity and gender differences, which includes ten points. Its essence lies in the fact that transgender people should be allowed to compete without any difficulties, including without checking the level of testosterone. The proposals of the IOC, which came into force after the Winter Olympics in Beijing, caused a negative response from specialists from major international federations, such as World Athletics, UCI, and the International Rowing Federation (FISA).

More details – in the material “The floor did not come out”.

Erdni Kagaltynov