World Athletics President warns that transgender athletes pose risk to integrity of women’s sport

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has claimed that the implications of transgender collegiate swimmer Lia Thomas’ win at an NCAA swimming championship event in the USA last week threatens the “integrity and future of women’s sport”.

In a development that has attracted global interest, Thomas, who had previously competed for the University of Pennsylvania’s men’s team, won the women’s 500-yards freestyle at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) swimming championships in Atlanta, Georgia.

Thomas, who commenced her transition and started hormone replacement therapy in spring 2019, going on to shatter records for her university swimming team, became the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship.

Her competing in the NCAA events was made possible by USA Swimming updating its policy for elite swimmers in February to allow transgender athletes to swim in elite events, alongside criteria that aim to reduce any unfair advantage, including testosterone tests for 36 months before competitions.

Thomas’ high profile success prompted Lord Coe to issue a warning over the future of women's sport if sporting organisations get regulations for transgender athletes wrong.

Lord Coe told London newspaper The Times “there is no question to me that testosterone is the key determinant in performance.

"Look at the nature of 12 or 13-year-old girls. I remember my daughters would regularly outrun male counterparts in their class but as soon as puberty kicks in that gap opens and it remains. Gender cannot trump biology.

"You can't be oblivious to public sentiment, of course not. But science is important. If I wasn't satisfied with the science that we have and the experts that we have used and the in-house teams that have been working on this for a long time, if I wasn't comfortable about that, this would be a very different landscape."

Asked how important the challenge of transgender women is in athletics, Lord Coe noted “I think that the integrity of women’s sport – if we don’t get this right – and actually the future of women’s sport, is very fragile.”

World Athletics rules state a transgender athlete must have low testosterone levels continuously for a period of at least 12 months before being allowed to compete internationally. Athletes with DSD (difference of sexual development) such as South Africa’s Caster Semenya have also been forced to restrict their testosterone levels for six months to be permitted to compete internationally over certain distances.

On Monday, Hungary's Reka Gyorgy accused the NCAA of denying her a "spot in the final" of its swimming championships by allowing Thomas to compete.

In a letter sent to the NCAA, Gyorgy is reported to have stated "it hurts me (as) this is my last college meet ever and I feel frustrated.”

Gyorgy, aged 25, competed at the Olympic Games for Hungary in 2016 and has been part of the Virginia Tech swimming team for five years.

She finished 17th in the preliminary races for the 500-yard freestyle, one place away from qualifying for the B final.

Image: Lia Thomas.