World Athletics, the international governing body of track and field, has announced six weeks out from the sport’s world championships that it will require SRY genetic testing for female athletes wishing to compete in the female category.
According to World Athletics, the new testing protocols will take effect on Sept. 1, 2025, and the testing will only be required once in a female athlete’s career. Female athletes who are qualified for World Championships and who wish to compete must undergo the SRY gene testing. The SRY gene test, which determines biological sex, will be conducted by a blood test or cheek swab by the athletes’ local federation — USA Track and Field here in the U.S.
Related: World Athletics to Combat Trans Athlete Participation with Mandatory Genetic Testing
Said Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics, “We are saying, at elite level, for you to compete in the female category, you have to be biologically female. It was always very clear to me and the World Athletics Council that gender cannot trump biology.”
Now, to be approved for competition in the female category, World Athletics stated that athletes must fall into one of four categories.
- Biological Females
- Biological males with Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome
- Biological males with a difference of sex development
- Biological females who have not used testosterone as a part of a therapeutic use exemption in the past four years
According to USA Today, World Athletics banned transgender athletes from competition who had already transitioned back in 2023. The USOPC and NCAA recently complied with similar regulations.
World Athletics also certified that at this time, there are no transgender female athletes competing at the elite, international level.
“The philosophy that we hold dear in World Athletics is the protection and the promotion of the integrity of women's sport,” said Coe.
