The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday said that no athlete should be excluded from competition on the grounds of a perceived unfair advantage due to their gender as it released a new framework on transgender inclusion.
No athlete should be excluded based on an “unverified, alleged or perceived unfair competitive advantage due to their sex variations, physical appearance and/or transgender status,” the IOC said.
However, the governing body added that it was not in a position to issue regulations that define eligibility criteria for every sport, leaving it up to federations to determine if an athlete is at a disproportionate advantage.
Photo: AFP
Ruling some athletes ineligible in some sports is still expected with safety noted as a specific issue for combat and contact sports.
“The framework is not legally binding. What we are offering to all the international federations is our expertise and a dialogue, rather than jumping to a conclusion,” IOC Athletes’ Department director Kaveh Mehrabi said. “This is a process that we have to go through with each federation on a case-by-case basis and see what is required.”
The 10-point document is to be rolled out after the Beijing Winter Games next year, replacing the guidelines issued in 2015.
It follows years of consultation with medical and human rights experts and, since 2019, athletes directly affected to help draft guidelines promoting fairness and inclusion.
It is published after the Tokyo Olympic Games where the first openly transgender athlete, weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, competed at the Games and defending 800m champion Caster Semenya is among track athletes with intersex conditions and naturally high testosterone levels excluded from their events.
The new framework also moves away from the old policy that said transgender athletes would be allowed to compete provided their testosterone levels were below a certain limit for at least 12 months before their first competition.
The IOC also said sex testing and “invasive physical examinations” used to verify an athlete’s gender were “disrespectful” and “potentially harmful.”
“We really want to make sure that athletes are not pressured or coerced into making a harmful decision about their bodies,” IOC head of human rights Magali Martowicz said.
“Athletes should be allowed to compete but unfair advantage needs to be regulated,” said the IOC, which plans to help fund research into elite performance by transgender and intersex athletes.
“We have not found the solution to this big question,” IOC spokesman Christian Klaue said. “Clearly this is a topic that will be with us for a long time.”
Additional reporting by AP
ROLLER COASTER: Shortly after winning the men’s 50m backstroke, Justin Ress was disqualified, but after accepting his loss, officials, in a rare move, overturned the call Canadian 15-year-old Summer McIntosh on Saturday won another gold medal and Italy pipped the US to the men’s 4x100m medley relay title on the last night of racing at the FINA World Championships. The US women clinched the country’s record 45th medal of the week by winning their 4x100m medley final. Regan Smith, Lilly King, Torri Huske and Claire Curzan were 0.47 seconds ahead of Australia and 1.23 ahead of Canada. “Yeah, I’m pretty tired,” Huske said after her sixth medal in a busy week. Canadian swimmers finished with 11 medals for their most successful worlds. Veteran Gregorio Paltrinieri also won a thrilling men’s
Tai Tzu-ying yesterday was Taiwan’s final hope at the Petronas Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur, advancing to quarter-finals of the women’s singles with a decisive win over Kristin Kuuba of Estonia. The world No. 2 and second-seeded Tai crushed world No. 51 Kuuba 21-11, 21-9 in their second-round match, which lasted about 30 minutes, at the Super 750 tournament at the Axiata Arena. In the opener, Tai shot ahead 11-8 at the mid-game interval, with Kuuba starved after the break, scoring one point as the Taiwanese hit five consecutive winners to bound to 16-9. Kuuba rallied to gain two more points, but Tai
Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin on Saturday broke her own world record in the 400m hurdles at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. McLaughlin flashed a broad smile when her time was announced, then gave a thumbs-up. She crossed the finish line at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in 51.41 seconds, breaking her own record of 51.46 set last year at the Tokyo Games, where she won the gold medal. “I mean it’s Track Town USA, what do you expect?” she said afterward. “Every time I come here I can just feel something amazing is going to happen.” Asked how she was
Novak Djokovic on Monday became the first player to win 80 matches at all four Grand Slams as he made a successful start to his Wimbledon title defense, while teenage star Carlos Alcaraz battled over five sets to make the second round. Six-time champion and top seed Djokovic saw off South Korea’s Kwon Soo-woo 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, but the 20-time Grand Slam winner was made to work after falling a break down in the opening two sets against his 81st-ranked opponent. “Now we have got to 80 wins, let’s get to 100,” Djokovic said. Djokovic, 35, is attempting to win a