The World Athletics Council has banned male athletes who identify as women from competing against biological females at international events.
Lord Coe, head of World Athletics, said the ban would prevent any transgender female competitor who has gone through male puberty from competing in female international competitions beginning on March 31.
According to the BBC:
Under previous rules, World Athletics required transgender female athletes to reduce their amount of blood testosterone to a maximum of 5nmol/L, and stay under this threshold continuously for a period of 12 months before competition.
Lord Coe added the decision was ‘guided by the overarching principle which is to protect the female category.’
He noted that there are currently no transgender athletes competing internationally in the sport.
Coe also announced the formation of a working group to continue studying trans inclusion in sports. However, the World Athletics Council head also stressed, “We’re not saying no forever.”
Lord Sebastian Coe, World Athletics President, makes a keynote speech during the European Athletics Young Leaders Forum at TUM Campus on August 18, 2022, in Munich, Germany. (Simon Hofmann/Getty Images for European Athletics)
“Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations,” said Lord Coe.
“We will be guided in this by the science around physical performance and male advantage which will inevitably develop over the coming years. As more evidence becomes available, we will review our position, but we believe the integrity of the female category in athletics is paramount.”
The World Athletics Council also set forth new rules that will impact athletes with differences in sex development (DSD), such as South African runner Caster Semenya.
“Semenya has been trying to compete in longer events. She finished 13th in her qualifying heat at 5,000 meters at world championships last year,” the AP reported.
To compete at next year’s Olympics, she would have to undergo hormone-suppressing treatment for six months, something she has said she will never do again, having undergone the treatment a decade ago under previous rules.
The working group will spend the next year further considering “the issue of transgender inclusion.”