In contrast to swimming, which has effectively banned transgender athletes from elite female competition, World Athletics has taken a different approach.
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World Athletics is set to discuss tightening rules on the participation of Transgender and DSD athletes in female competition at its decision-making meeting on Thursday. The preferred option is to use limits on testosterone as the key determining factor, with the proposal stating that in order to compete in the female category, athletes would have to reduce their blood testosterone levels to below 2.5 nanomoles per litre and remain below this level for two years instead of one. The proposals will be discussed and voted on at the World Athletics Council meeting in Monaco, with any decisions published on Thursday.
In contrast to swimming, which has effectively banned transgender athletes from elite female competition, World Athletics has taken a different approach. The body has said that it wants to tighten the rules surrounding eligibility but not ban transgender athletes altogether. The most high-profile DSD athlete is Caster Semenya of South Africa, who is a double Olympic 800m champion.
Another major proposal to be discussed is the lifting of the doping ban on Russian athletes. Russia’s track and field federation has been barred from competition since 2015 after a World Anti-Doping Agency report identified “a deeply-rooted culture of doping”. To return, the country must meet strict conditions, including establishing a culture of zero tolerance and an effective anti-doping structure. Just a handful of Russian athletes took part in track and field at the Tokyo Olympics, and they did so under a neutral flag. All Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned from competition “for the foreseeable future” since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The International Olympic Committee recommended the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian sportspeople 13 months ago, but in January, it said it was seeking a “pathway” for Russians to take part in the Games in Paris. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) offered athletes from both countries the chance to compete in this year’s Asian Games, prompting a demand for clarification from more than 30 countries including the United States, Canada, Britain, France, and Sweden. The ongoing women’s World Boxing Championships in India have also featured fighters from both Russia and Belarus competing under their national flags and anthems, leading to a boycott by countries including the United States, Ukraine, Canada, Sweden, and Britain.
There seems to be a groundswell towards allowing the return of Russians and Belarusians under a neutral flag. The Olympic sport of fencing earlier this month decided to allow athletes from those two countries to take part in qualifying events, sparking outrage in Ukraine. However, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has been unequivocal in his previous declarations on the fall-out from the Ukraine invasion, saying his body would not budge while Kyiv remained under attack.
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