Transgender people cannot compete in women’s track and field events. This was confirmed this Thursday, March 23, by the President of the International Athletics Federation (World Athletics), Sebastian Coe, through a communication together with the council. This provision comes into effect on March 31 of this year.
“The Board of Directors has decided to ban male and female transgender athletes who have experienced male puberty from international women’s competition,” Coe said. “The World Athletics Council has taken clear steps to protect the women’s category of our sport and will do so by restricting the participation of transgender and intersex athletes,” he said.
Most of the athletics stakeholders consulted “were of the opinion that transgender athletes should not compete in the female category,” added the chief honcho of world athletics. “For many, the evidence that trans women retain no advantage over biological women is not enough. They want more evidence before considering the possibility of inclusion in the female category.”
What does the current regulation say?
Under current regulations, a transgender athlete wishing to compete in the female category had to keep her testosterone levels below the 5 nanomol/l threshold for one year. Intersex athletes, on the other hand, must maintain the same levels of the hormone, but for a six-month period, to be eligible for the 400-meter and mile distances.
In November 2021 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called on sports federations to set their own criteria for transgender and intersex people in high-level competitions.
Temporary measure for 12 months
Despite the stance of “priority to the fairness and integrity of women’s competition over inclusion,” World Athletics mentioned that the council “will establish a working group for 12 months to further consider the issue of transgender inclusion.”
This working group consists of an independent chair, up to three members of the Council, two athletes from the Athletes’ Commission, one transgender athlete and three representatives from the member federations and representatives from the World Athletics Department of Science and Health.