Seb Coe, president of World Athletics, will introduce noninvasive “pre-clearance tests” for female athletes amid disputes over men’s participation in women’s sports.
The tests will include cheek swabs or dry blood tests and will only be used once in an athlete’s career. According to Athletics Weekly, tests could be introduced as early as September of this year for the World Championships.
“We will doggedly protect the female category, and we’ll do whatever is necessary to do it,” he added.
The World Athletics female category currently excludes anyone “who has undergone male puberty, based on research that says trans women retain a significant physical advantage even after undergoing testosterone suppression therapy,” per Athletics Weekly.
Coe said the new tests were implemented after careful consideration and consultation, adding that the prevailing majority believes they should be in place.
“Overwhelmingly, the view has come back that this is absolutely the way to go, within the caveats raised [on testing not being too intrusive],” Coe said, adding that the tests will stand up to legal challenges.
“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,” he said. “We’ve been to the court of arbitration [for sport] on our DSD [difference of sexual development] regulations. They have been upheld and they have again been upheld after appeal.”
News of the tests comes after the new International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, Kirsty Coventry, said she supports a blanket ban on trans athletes participating in women’s sports.
“I do believe everyone has the right to play sport, 100%, but when it comes to the Olympic Games … being a former female athlete and having two young girls, I want to ensure that category is protected,” Coventry added.
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