World Athletics to exclude transgender women from female events

World Athletics will exclude transgender women who have gone through male puberty from female events, the world governing body’s Council has announced.

President Sebastian Coe said that following a review earlier this year there was insufficient evidence that trans women do not retain advantages over ‘biological women’.

The ban will begin on 31 March 2023.

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“The council agreed it must be guided by our over-arching principle which is to protect the female category,” Coe said. “A working group will be established to do further research in transgender eligibility guidelines with a remit to consult specifically with transgender athletes to seek views on competing in athletics.”

For DSD (Differences of Sexual Development) athletes, new regulations will require any relevant athletes to reduce their testosterone levels below a limit of 2.5nmol/L for a minimum of 24 months to compete internationally in the female category in any event, not just the events that were restricted (400m to one mile) under the previous regulations.

This means the principle of restricted events has been removed from the regulations.

“In terms of DSD regulations, World Athletics has more than 10 years of research and evidence of the physical advantages that these athletes bring to the female category.

However, there are currently no transgender athletes competing internationally in athletics and consequently no athletics-specific evidence of the impact these athletes would have on the fairness of female competition in athletics.

In these circumstances, the Council decided to prioritise fairness and the integrity of the female competition before inclusion,” a World Athletics statement reads.

The ban is specifically for ‘female World Rankings competition’. Coe further says that decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups.

“We continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations. We will be guided in this by the science around physical performance and male advantage which will inevitably develop over the coming years. As more evidence becomes available, we will review our position, but we believe the integrity of the female category in athletics is paramount,” he offered.