World Athletics announces rollout of genetic testing

To reinforce its strict policy on transgender participation, the world athletics governing body has announced that starting in September it will require all female athletes at international championships to undergo a blood or swab test to detect the presence of the SRY gene.

Athletes competing in the women's category at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo will have to follow a new procedure, implemented by their respective federations. Genetic testing will determine the presence or absence of the Y-Determining Region gene - a gene responsible for the initiation of male sexual development. This test determines biological sex at the genetic level.

World Athletics announces rollout of genetic testing

This method was used at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics; however, the International Olympic Committee later discontinued sex determination at the Olympics because the SRY gene test could discriminate against women with disorders of sex development, such as intersex disorders. However, World Athletics assures that the test is highly accurate and the risk of false negatives or false positives is extremely low.

The federation added that athletes could appeal the results through the Court of Arbitration for Sport and stressed that those who refused testing would be banned from competing in world-ranking events but could enter alternative, non-ranking competitions.

Athletics’ global governing body has stuck to its guns, imposing a ban in 2023 to prevent transgender athletes from competing in international events and announcing the formation of a working group that will continue to investigate the issue. The Gender Diverse Athlete Working Group approved the latest protocols in March last year after a year of studying developments in the law, science , sport and society relating to gender diverse athletes.

The working group also found evidence that testosterone suppression may only partially reduce the overall advantage that men have in athletics, and that World Athletics will also consolidate its regulations for both gender dysphoria and transgender athletes. Current regulations for gender dysphoria athletes require them to reduce their testosterone levels to a certain level for at least six months in order to compete in any international women’s event.

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/dien-kinh-the-gioi-cong-bo-trien-khai-xet-nghiem-gen-20250808095902457.htm