As sports embrace gender tests, IOC may follow

By Coralie FEBVRE
As the gender furor that engulfed boxing at the 2024 Paris Olympics rumbles on, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is weighing reintroducing testing, while several sports have already embraced testing for male chromosomes.
Such testing has its critics and the Olympics have already tried it once only to abandon it in 1996.
Incoming president Kirsty Coventry, who will become the first woman to lead the Olympic movement when she starts her term on Monday, signaled a change of direction on this politically inflammatory and scientifically complex issue when she was elected in March.
"We will protect the female category and female athletes," said Coventry, a Zimbabwean swimmer who won seven Olympic medals.
At recent Games, the IOC has left responsibility for setting and enforcing gender rules to the international federations who run their sports.
"I want the IOC to take a little bit more of a leading role," Coventry said, adding that she planned to create "a task force."
Even before Coventry begins her consultations, World Athletics and World Boxing have adopted chromosomal testing -- generally a cheek swab. World Aquatics in 2023 adopted a policy that foresees such testing.
Their rules make participation in women's competition conditional on the absence of Y chromosome genetic material -- known as the SRY gene, an indicator of masculinity.
Only "XX athletes", as World Athletics calls them, can compete. Both transgender women and those who have always been considered female but have XY chromosomes -- a form of "differences in sex development" (DSD) -- are excluded.
On the surface, chromosomal screening simplifies access to women's competition, which has long been the subject of varied regulations and scientific and ethical debates.
Last October, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem, told the U.N. General Assembly that such tests were "reliable and non-invasive."
The gender debate reignited in June around Paris Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif.
The Algerian was at the center of a violent controversy over her gender last summer stoked by Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
World Boxing, which is taking over running Olympic boxing in Los Angeles in 2028, ordered Khelif to undergo testing before a competition in the Netherlands in early June. She skipped the event.
During the Paris Games, the International Boxing Association, which was booted out of the Olympics by the IOC in 2019, accused Khelif, raised as a girl, of carrying XY chromosomes.
Chromosomal screening attracts criticism, notably from the World Medical Association and human rights organizations.
"It is far from being scientifically accurate as a performance indicator, while being very harmful to the athletes affected," Madeleine Pape, a sociologist of gender in sport at the University of Lausanne, told AFP.
While World Athletics and World Aquatics both say transgender women have a muscular advantage, Pape, who ran the 800 meters for Australia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, disagrees.
She said there is a lack of research proving that transgender athletes or those with or one of the many forms of DSD gain a "disproportionate advantage" over XX competitors.
Explaining performance is so complex that this uncertainty applies to "all athletes," said Pape.
She also said it was possible to have an XY chromosome while being "totally or partially insensitive to testosterone," as was the case with Spanish hurdler Maria Jose Martinez-Patino, who after missing out on the 1988 Olympics was the first woman to successfully challenge the femininity tests in court.
Aware of these limitations, World Boxing and World Athletics are proposing additional steps after SRY screening which could include anatomical examination.
"Chromosomal tests seem very simple, very clean, but there is a lot of complexity behind them: potentially a highly invasive and non-standardised gynaecological examination, or expensive genetic sequencing that is inaccessible in many countries," said Pape.
Ultimately, the future of such tests could be decided in the courts.
The European Court of Human Rights is expected to rule on July 10, for a second time, on the case of DSD athlete Caster Semenya, the double Olympic 800 meters champion.
The South African was barred from competing under an earlier version of the World Athletics rules. In 2023, the court ruled that her rights had been infringed but that decision did not force WA to reinstate her.
© 2025 AFP

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Japan Times

15 hours ago

• Japan Times

Outgoing IOC President Thomas Bach faced mammoth challenges

Thomas Bach's eventful 12-year tenure as president of the International Olympic Committee comes to an end on Monday when he hands over the reins to Kirsty Coventry, the first woman and African to hold the sports world's most powerful political office. From state-sponsored doping by Russia to the COVID-hit Tokyo Games, the 71-year-old German lawyer, a 1976 Olympic team fencing champion, faced many challenges during his time in power. Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first person to ring Bach to congratulate him on his election in 2013 — but little did Bach realize how much Russia was to dog his presidency. The state-sponsored doping scandal at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and Russia breaking the Olympic Truce twice, in 2014 and 2022, taxed his patience and that of the Olympic movement. Bach faced pressure from both sides before the 2024 Paris Games and in the end permitted Russian athletes to compete despite the invasion of Ukraine, but only after being strictly vetted and under a neutral flag. For Michael Payne, a former head of IOC marketing, Russia was the "large elephant in the room" and Bach was in a "no-win situation." His fellow former IOC marketing executive, Terrence Burns, who lived and worked in Russia in the 1990s, said Bach was one of many leaders fooled by Putin. "On doping, he should have been harsher," Burns said. "But let's be honest, the whole thing was almost unbelievable. "On Ukraine, you were damned if you do and damned if you don't. "I don't think any Western government or politician has ever figured out Russia ... nor did he." Hugh Robertson, now an IOC member and the British sports minister responsible for overseeing the delivery of the highly successful 2012 London Games, believes Bach played his hand well over the Paris Games. "The balance he struck over Russian participation in Paris was in line with the Olympic Charter," Robertson said. "He took very strong action against the government, banned any events in Russia, any national representation and any national symbols." Bach had "a very tough presidency and never caught a break" said Payne, but he always held his nerve. No more so than when Bach resisted calls from within Japan for the Tokyo Games to be canceled, not just postponed to 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Payne says Bach's painful memories of missing the Moscow Games in 1980 due to a boycott linked to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, had left their mark. The German said the IOC would not pull the plug. In addition, the ramifications of canceling Tokyo would have been enormous for the IOC. "Think about if Tokyo had not taken place," said Payne. "Would Beijing (the 2022 Winter Games) have taken place as well? "The Olympic movement losing four years is maybe not existential, but boy it would have been tough." In the end the Games did go ahead but the majority of athletes performed in front of empty stands as local organizers banned spectators. Burns says it was a tour de force from Bach. "Honestly, I think it was his sheer willpower that made those Games happen when everyone, and I mean everyone, in the world doubted him," said the American. Robertson saw it from "inside the bubble" as he was then the chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA). "Of course it was a huge disappointment that there were no spectators but a generation of athletes got the chance to compete in an Olympic Games," said the 62-year-old. "It probably would not have been the case had Bach not been in charge. "I think athletes around the world owe Thomas Bach a huge vote of thanks." Bach departs with the IOC's finances in robust health. He has boasted of a "60% growth in revenues" during his dozen years at the helm. Payne said he has indeed increased revenues but the 67-year-old Irishman cautioned that "with increasing revenues partners become more demanding," adding "just because you have contracts locked up does not mean you do not change and evolve." Robertson praised Bach for handing over to Coventry an IOC "in an extremely robust financial position." He added the policy of locking sponsors into long-term deals "gave the IOC financial certainty at an exceptionally difficult time and we are seeing the benefit of that now." "Thomas Bach had the most difficult deck of cards to play of any IOC president. He has played them exceptionally well and left the IOC stronger than when he took over," Robertson said.

Japan Today

16 hours ago

• Japan Today

As sports embrace gender tests, IOC may follow

By Coralie FEBVRE As the gender furor that engulfed boxing at the 2024 Paris Olympics rumbles on, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is weighing reintroducing testing, while several sports have already embraced testing for male chromosomes. Such testing has its critics and the Olympics have already tried it once only to abandon it in 1996. Incoming president Kirsty Coventry, who will become the first woman to lead the Olympic movement when she starts her term on Monday, signaled a change of direction on this politically inflammatory and scientifically complex issue when she was elected in March. "We will protect the female category and female athletes," said Coventry, a Zimbabwean swimmer who won seven Olympic medals. At recent Games, the IOC has left responsibility for setting and enforcing gender rules to the international federations who run their sports. "I want the IOC to take a little bit more of a leading role," Coventry said, adding that she planned to create "a task force." Even before Coventry begins her consultations, World Athletics and World Boxing have adopted chromosomal testing -- generally a cheek swab. World Aquatics in 2023 adopted a policy that foresees such testing. Their rules make participation in women's competition conditional on the absence of Y chromosome genetic material -- known as the SRY gene, an indicator of masculinity. Only "XX athletes", as World Athletics calls them, can compete. Both transgender women and those who have always been considered female but have XY chromosomes -- a form of "differences in sex development" (DSD) -- are excluded. On the surface, chromosomal screening simplifies access to women's competition, which has long been the subject of varied regulations and scientific and ethical debates. Last October, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem, told the U.N. General Assembly that such tests were "reliable and non-invasive." The gender debate reignited in June around Paris Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif. The Algerian was at the center of a violent controversy over her gender last summer stoked by Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. World Boxing, which is taking over running Olympic boxing in Los Angeles in 2028, ordered Khelif to undergo testing before a competition in the Netherlands in early June. She skipped the event. During the Paris Games, the International Boxing Association, which was booted out of the Olympics by the IOC in 2019, accused Khelif, raised as a girl, of carrying XY chromosomes. Chromosomal screening attracts criticism, notably from the World Medical Association and human rights organizations. "It is far from being scientifically accurate as a performance indicator, while being very harmful to the athletes affected," Madeleine Pape, a sociologist of gender in sport at the University of Lausanne, told AFP. While World Athletics and World Aquatics both say transgender women have a muscular advantage, Pape, who ran the 800 meters for Australia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, disagrees. She said there is a lack of research proving that transgender athletes or those with or one of the many forms of DSD gain a "disproportionate advantage" over XX competitors. Explaining performance is so complex that this uncertainty applies to "all athletes," said Pape. She also said it was possible to have an XY chromosome while being "totally or partially insensitive to testosterone," as was the case with Spanish hurdler Maria Jose Martinez-Patino, who after missing out on the 1988 Olympics was the first woman to successfully challenge the femininity tests in court. Aware of these limitations, World Boxing and World Athletics are proposing additional steps after SRY screening which could include anatomical examination. "Chromosomal tests seem very simple, very clean, but there is a lot of complexity behind them: potentially a highly invasive and non-standardised gynaecological examination, or expensive genetic sequencing that is inaccessible in many countries," said Pape. Ultimately, the future of such tests could be decided in the courts. The European Court of Human Rights is expected to rule on July 10, for a second time, on the case of DSD athlete Caster Semenya, the double Olympic 800 meters champion. The South African was barred from competing under an earlier version of the World Athletics rules. In 2023, the court ruled that her rights had been infringed but that decision did not force WA to reinstate her. © 2025 AFP

Japan Times

a day ago

• Japan Times

As sports embrace gender tests, Coventry and IOC may follow

As the gender furor that engulfed boxing at the 2024 Paris Olympics rumbles on, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is weighing reintroducing testing, while several sports have already embraced testing for male chromosomes. Such testing has its share of critics and the Olympics have already tried it once only to abandon it in 1996. Incoming President Kirsty Coventry, who will become the first woman to lead the Olympic movement when she starts her term on Monday, signaled a change of direction on this politically inflammatory and scientifically complex issue when she was elected in March.