World Athletics has announced that it will launch mandatory gender tests for female athletes to protect the integrity of women's sports.
The organisation, previously known as the International Association of Athletics Federations, revealed at a press conference that after a comprehensive review, it was ready to proceed with gender testing to ensure that the female athletes at the event were indeed women.
Athletics around the world hosts a number of annual events in athletics, covering sports such as indoor/outdoor running, decathlons and race walks.
“The process is very simple.”
Sebastian Coe, president of the World Athletics, said in the meantime. Press conference “Over 70 individual groups” were involved in “a thorough review” and decided that managing the test was a “absolute way to go.”
“The process is very simple, frankly, very clear and important,” Coe explained to the reporter.
Executives were asked directly whether swab testing is the testing method used to determine gender.
The latter involves simple analysis of blood samples or “dry blood spots.” This can be used as an alternative to swab tests to find endocrine, genes, and/or epigenetic markers. Science Direct.
World Athletics announced its genetic testing a few days after the indoor championship in Nanjing. Photo: Hannah Peters/Getty Images
Coe revealed that the tests were “necessary” rather than invasive.
“They will definitely be carried out across international health standards,” he continued.
Coe said that given the world's athletics hosting events around the world, the most challenging part of the effort is finding international providers with the ability to provide large-scale testing.
The Governing Body also said the test will be a “once in a career” type of test for female athletes.
The reporter asked the COE if parameters regarding sexual developmental differences dealing with gender classification would be updated to reflect the new rules. The COE appeared to have agreed that the parameters should be changed.
“It's important to do that, especially recently, not just talking about women's integrity, women's sports, but actually ensuring it,” Coe replied. “And I feel this is a truly important way to provide confidence and maintain that absolute focus on the integrity of the competition.”
When asked if he was ready for legal or media resistance, Koh said that he was actually ready to take on criticism and that if he wasn't ready he would not have been on the path “protecting the women's category of sports” almost a decade ago.
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