Transgender people are prohibited from competing in track and field events

THE International Athletics Federation (World Athletics) decided this Thursday that transgender people will not be able to participate in international women’s events “from March 31”, as announced by its president, Sebastian Coe.

also agree new rules that will prevent Caster Semenya and other athletes with a difference in sexual development from competing.

“The Council (of World Athletics) has decided to exclude from international women’s competitions male and female transgender athletes who have experienced male pubertyCo explained.

The same rules approved by swimming last year were thus adopted, prohibiting the participation of athletes who have made the transition from male to female and who have passed male puberty.

“The World Athletics Council has taken clear steps to protect the female category of our sport and to do so by limiting the participation of transgender and intersex athletes,” she added.

Most of the athletics actors consulted “estimated that transgender athletes they do not have to compete in the women’s category“, he explained.

How many athletes it affects and the test request

Coe said these rule updates, for athletes with a difference in sexual development, affect 13 athletes.

Among these, a Semenya, two-time Olympic champion in the 800m, which since 2019 has not competed in the trials from 400 meters to 1,600. Now they must be on medication for six months in order to compete.

Current legislation required transgender athletes who wanted to participate in the female category to keep their testosterone level below the threshold of 5 nanomoles/l for one year.

“For many, the evidence that trans women do not maintain an edge over biological women is scant. They want more tests before considering the option of inclusion in the female category” added the manager.

Intersex athletes like Semenya must, since April 2018, keep their testosterone level below 5 nml/l for six months to be allowed to participate in distances between 400 and 1,600 metres.

That regulation had been denounced by Semenya, who refuses to undergo hormone treatment or an operation.

The South African athlete lost the appeals presented, especially before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS).

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had asked sports federations in November 2021 to set their own criteria on transgender and intersex people in top-level competitions.

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