World Athletics, the governing body of track and field, this week approved genetic testing for female athletes to verify biological sex. Two years ago the organization banned transgender athletes from the women’s competition, and now president Sebastian Coe is taking gender eligibility one step further.
This move will impact U.S. athletes as well as women competing from around the world at any World Athletics-certified event.
The tests will likely include cheek swabs or blood tests that only need to be completed once in order for an athlete to be cleared for competition. Once samples are taken, analysis will be done to verify if “someone has transitioned to a female after going through male puberty or if they had differences of sex development that provided testosterone advantages.”
According to BBC, “The test will look for the SRY gene which is part of the Y chromosome and causes male characteristics to develop.”
Coe told GB News, “This we feel is a really important way of providing confidence and maintaining that absolute focus on the integrity of competition."
A majority of World Athletics stakeholders agreed with Coe that ensuring only biological females are competing in the women’s category would maintain the fairness of the sport.
World Athletics plans to have the tests in place before the world championships, held in September 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. The full timeline and testing logistics should be confirmed in the next few weeks.
The testing decision will also prompt World Athletics to adjust regulations for ‘differences of sexual development’ (DSD) athletes and transgender athletes, as the group claims they have evidence to show a lack of efficacy in testosterone suppression.
"It's important to do it because it maintains everything that we've been talking about, and particularly recently, not just talking about the integrity of women's sport, but actually guaranteeing it," said Coe.
