World Athletics bans transgender women from women’s competition



“We cannot in all conscience leave our transgender regulations as they were at 5n/mol for at least one year when we were unsure about the impact of doing so across all our disciplines.

“The decision that the council made is a primarily principled based decision about the over-arching need to protect the female category. This is what our sport is here to do. And I think the council has done that today.”

For DSD athletes under the new regulations, those relevant athletes must reduce their testosterone levels below a limit of 2.5 nmol/L for a minimum of 24 months to compete internationally in the female category in any event.

That threshold comes up after the previous rules only required specific testosterone levels for previously restricted events from 400m to one mile, which has now been removed entirely.

Those athletes who already compete in what was previously an unrestricted event – distances below 400m and above one mile, plus field events – will be required to suppress their testosterone levels below 2.5nmol/L for a minimum of six months, before they are eligible to compete again.

This period matches the previuous period required for DSD athletes to compete in restricted events, although the threshold previously was below 5nmol/L.

The interim provisions do not apply to the previously restricted events (400m to one mile) where two years of testosterone suppression will be required before the relevant athlete is eligible to compete.

Transgender rights have become a major talking point as sports seek to balance inclusivity with ensuring there is no unfair advantage.

With athletes such as Commonwealth Games champion Eilish McColgan contributing to the debate and claiming a one percent advantage for trans women athletes would be “too much”.

LGBTQI advocacy groups say excluding trans athletes amounts to discrimination and World Athletics’ move follows World Aquatics and its vote last year to restrict participation of transgender athletes in elite women’s competitions.

World Athletics president Lord Coe has confirmed transgender women will be excluded from women’s competition

Lord Coe had praised the move, which saw the sport create a working group to establish an “open” category.

The move comes after the World Athletics Council confirmed a number of landmark decisions on future participation.

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The governing body also confirmed the reinstatement of the Russian Federation (RusAF) following seven years of suspension after institutional doping violations.

But athletes, officials and supporting personnel from Russia and Belarus remain excluded from competition for the foreseeable future due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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