The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced a new Policy on the Protection of the Female Category in Olympic Sport and Guiding Considerations for International Federations and Sports Governing Bodies.
Reactions to the IOC’s new policy on gender testing were sharply divided, with supporters hailing the long‑overdue move to protect women’s sport.
Meanwhile critics maintain there’s no evidence that women athletes who had undergone hormone therapy for one to three years, have any sustained physical advantage.
The IOC announced that from now on, athletes who want to take part in female category events at Olympic Games will be subjected to one-time gene-screening tests to determine their eligibility.
The move represents a significant reversal in sports policy at an organization that has for years grappled with evolving approaches to the so-called verification of womanhood.
From the early 2000s up through the Tokyo Games, the IOC has maintained evolving guidelines on the participation of transgender athletes.
In 2021, the body released a set of inclusive guidelines on trans athlete participation, but left decision making up to individual sport governing bodies.
Many of them banned transgender women outright.
Only a handful of openly transgender athletes have taken part in the Games since.
–SABC–
