Only biologically female athletes, whose gender will be determined by a unique genetic screening test, will be eligible to participate in competitions in the female category at the Olympic Games, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) said on Thursday (26).
The committee presented its new policy, which, according to the entity, aims to protect the women’s category, as part of its initiative to establish a universal rule for competitors in elite women’s sport.
“Eligibility for any competition in the women’s category at the Olympic Games or any other International Olympic Committee event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females, determined based on a one-time SRY gene screening,” the IOC said in a statement.
In March, more than 80 sports and human rights groups called on the IOC to abandon plans to introduce universal genetic sex testing for female athletes and impose a blanket ban on transgender and intersex competitors.
A joint statement released on the 17th by the Sport & Rights Alliance (SRA), ILGA World, Humans of Sport and dozens of other groups warned that the measures that will supposedly be recommended by the IOC Women’s Category Protection Working Group would represent a setback for gender equality in sport.
