GENEVA: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has ruled to ban transgender people from participating in women's sports competition...
GENEVA: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has ruled to ban transgender people from participating in women's sports competitions, the IOC press office announced on Thursday.
"The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced a new Policy on the Protection of the Female (Women’s) Category in Olympic Sport and Guiding Considerations for International Federations and Sports Governing Bodies," the IOC announced in a statement.
"Eligibility for the female category is to be determined in the first instance by SRY gene screening to detect the absence or presence of the SRY gene," the statement reads.
"Based on scientific evidence, the IOC considers that the presence of the SRY gene is fixed throughout life and represents highly accurate evidence that an athlete has experienced male sex development," according to the IOC statement.
"Furthermore, the IOC considers that SRY gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods," according to the IOC.
Commenting on the new policy, IOC President Kirsty Coventry said: "As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition."
"The policy that we have announced is based on science and has been led by medical experts," she continued. "At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat."
"So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe," the IOC chief noted.
"Every athlete must be treated with dignity and respect, and athletes will need to be screened only once in their lifetime. There must be clear education around the process and counselling available, alongside expert medical advice," Coventry stated.
The IOC particularly stated in its statement that it specially-tasked "Working group reviewed the latest scientific evidence, including developments since 2021, and reached a clear consensus. Male sex provides a performance advantage in all sports and events that rely on strength, power and endurance."
"To ensure fairness, and to protect safety, particularly in contact sports, eligibility should therefore be based on biological sex. The group also agreed that the most accurate and least intrusive method currently available to verify biological sex is screening for the SRY gene, a segment of DNA typically found on the Y chromosome that initiates male sex development in utero and indicates the presence of testes/testicles," the statement added.
The 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo featured for the first time a transgender athlete, namely Laurel Hubbard from New Zealand who took part in the women's weightlifting event in the under-87 kg weight category and eventually finished the competitions at the bottom spot.
At the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in France, Imane Khelif from Algeria won gold in women’s under-66 kg weight category. After the results were announced, French journalist Jaffar Ait Audia reported that an MRI scan had revealed the absence of a uterus and the presence of internal testicles. A chromosome test confirmed the Algerian woman had an XY karyotype, and a hormonal test showed that her testosterone levels were on a par with those of a typical man.
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