World Athletics will re-examine their transgender guidelines at the end of the year after Sebastian Coe spoke in support of the hardline approach adopted by swimming’s governing body.
In the past week, FINA has voted that trans women who ‘experienced any part of male puberty’ can no longer enter female events – a marked departure from the prevailing stances of Olympic sports.
While World Athletics rules say a transgender athlete can compete if she has a testosterone level below 5 nmol/L continuously for a period of at least 12 months – six months longer than stipulated by their regulations around athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) – Coe has been emphatic in his belief that ‘biology trumps gender’.
His point of view is bolstered by testosterone research around the DSD issue in track and field, which was challenged in the lengthy case with Caster Semenya.
In giving his opinion on FINA’s position, Coe said: ‘We see an international federation asserting its primacy in setting rules, regulations and policies that are in the best interest of its sport. This is as it should be.
“We have always believed, and repeated constantly, that biology trumps gender and we will continue to review our regulations in line with this.”
When asked if WA would adopt a similar stance, Coe added: “we have always said our regulations in this area are a living document, specific to our sport and we will follow the science.
“We continue to study, research and contribute to the growing body of evidence that testosterone is a key determinator in performance and have scheduled a discussion on our DSD and Transgender regulations with our council at the end of the year.”