International Olympic Committee releases new guidance on inclusion of transgender athletes

New advice from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) says there should be no assumption that a transgender athlete automatically has an unfair advantage in female events.

In its new framework on transgender inclusion, the IOC places responsibility on individual federations to determine eligibility criteria in their sport.

Released last week, the 10-point document is "not legally binding" and not every sport is expected to find a solution before Paris 2024.

The framework, which replaces IOC guidelines issued in 2015, also changes the policy on requiring transgender women to suppress testosterone levels in order to compete in female events.

The old policy that said transgender athletes would be allowed to compete provided their testosterone levels were below a certain limit for at least 12 months before their first competition.

Relying on testosterone levels alone in female events is no longer deemed sufficient grounds to determine whether or not a competitor has an unfair advantage.

IOC Medical Director, Richard Budgett explained “you don't need to use testosterone (to decide who can compete) at all. But this is guidance, it's not an absolute rule.”

The framework was prepared over two years in consultation with more than 250 athletes and other stakeholders, and will be implemented after next year's Beijing Winter Games.

Kaveh Mehrabi, Ddirector of the IOC's Athletes' Department, added “what we are offering to all the international federations is our expertise and a dialogue, rather than jumping to a conclusion.

"This is a process that we have to go through with each federation on a case-by-case basis and see what is required."

The IOC's new framework also applies to athletes with differences of sex development (DSD) such as the South African 800m runner Caster Semenya.

Governing body World Athletics defended its existing policy, which forces DSD athletes to suppress their testosterone levels to compete in certain events, citing the rejection of Semenya's challenge of the rules by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2019.

In a statement, World Athletics advised “to the extent the IOC document diverges from our regulation, we would simply note that the Court of Arbitration for Sport panel in 2019 found that the DSD regulations were a necessary, reasonable, and proportionate means of achieving World Athletics' legitimate objective of maintaining fair and meaningful competition in the female category."

The IOC also said medical testing and "invasive physical examinations" used to verify an athlete's gender were "disrespectful" and "potentially harmful".

Image: The Tokyo Olympics saw New Zealand athlete Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics in a different gender category to that in which they were born.