World Athletics votes to EXCLUDE transgender athletes who have transformed from male to female after puberty, as Seb Coe vows call will ‘protect the female category’
- The decision was revealed on Thursday by World Athletics president Seb Coe
- Coe said the moves ‘restricts participation of trans athletes’ in the sport
- Athletes such as Caster Semenya and Christine Mboma will be affected
World Athletics has banned transgender women from competing in elite female competitions if they have gone through male puberty, the sport’s governing body said on Thursday.
The council also voted to tighten restrictions on athletes with Differences in Sex Development (DSD), cutting the maximum amount of plasma testosterone for athletes in half, to 2.5 nanomoles per litre from five.
The tighter rules will impact DSD athletes such as two-times Olympic 800 metre champion Caster Semenya, Christine Mboma, the 2020 Olympic silver medallist in the 200m, and Francine Niyonsaba, who finished runner-up to Semenya in the 800 at the 2016 Olympics.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe told a news conference that the decision to exclude transgender women was based ‘on the overarching need to protect the female category by restricting the participation of trans athletes.’
He added that WA would form a task force to study the issue of trans inclusion that would be chaired by a transgender athlete.
World Athletics has voted to exclude transgender athletes from competing in female category
Caster Semenya will be impacted by the tightened rules for athletes with Differences in Sex Development
Swimming’s world governing body World Aquatics voted last June to bar transgender women from elite competition if they had experienced any part of male puberty. A scientific panel had found that even after reducing their testosterone levels through medication, transgender women still had a significant advantage.
The vote passed with 71% of the national federations in favour.
WA regulations around DSD previously required women competing in events between 400 metres and a mile to maintain testosterone levels below five nanomoles per litre.
Christine Mboma, 2020 Olympic silver medalist in the 200m, will also be affected by the rulings
At the 2020 Olympics, South Africa’s Semenya and Burundi’s Niyonsaba were both barred from the 800m before turning their attention to the 5,000.
Semenya failed to qualify for the Games while Niyonsaba made the final before being disqualified for a lane violation.
Namibia’s Mboma, prevented from running the 400m, switched to the 200m, winning silver.
DSD athletes have male testes but do not produce enough of the hormone Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) that is necessary for the formation of male external genitalia.
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