Athletics: Transgender athletes will no longer be able to participate in women’s competitions

On Thursday, March 23, the International Athletics Federation announced it would exclude transgender female athletes from women’s competitions. A decision that will be implemented from March 31, as revealed by theFrench media agency.

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“Protection of the female category of our sport”

Federation president Sebastian Coe describes excluded transgender athletes as people “ who have experienced male puberty“. According to him, this decision would aim at “ protect the female category of our sport”.

“For many, the evidence that trans women do not retain an advantage over biological women is insufficient”detailed Sebastian Coe, who says no say no forever ». A specific working group will be created to study future scientific developments.

Tougher regulation for intersex people

The rules also change for intersex female athletes competing in women’s competitions, who now must maintain their testosterone levels below 2.5 nmol/L for 24 months.instead of 5 nmol/L for 6 months to compete in the women’s category.

above all, the rules now apply to all disciplines and no longer just races from 400m to the mile (1,610m), as has been the case since 2018.

They are thus excluded from the World Cup in Budapest (which will take place from 19 to 27 August) but could participate in the Paris Olympics. However, all of them have refused hormone treatment in recent years, preferring to align themselves with the tests authorized up to now.