The UCI prohibits transgender people from participating in women’s events

The International Cycling Union (UCI) bans from next Monday the participation of transgender athletes who experienced a gender change after puberty in the women’s competitions of its international calendar.

In a statement released this Friday, the UCI indicated that it made the decision “in light of current scientific knowledge” about the impact of gender reassignment treatment on sporting performance.

“Given the scientific uncertainties that still exist, the following measure must be takene protect the category of women and guarantee equal opportunities“, they stated from the organization.

He added that the ban could be adjusted “depending on future scientific findings” and assured that he would share information with other international federations and the sports movement to establish research program that studies the evolution of physical performance athletes undergoing treatment with transitional hormone.

The UCI has indicated that transgender athletes will be able to participate in so-called International Masters events, non-professionals, in which the men’s category will be renamed to “Male/open”, which will include athletes who do not meet the conditions to be in the women’s team.

UCI president David Lappartient emphasized that this decision does not call into question that cycling is a sport open to everyone and that it does not deny the right of everyone to choose the gender they want, even if it is different from the one assigned to them at birth.

“But it is the UCI’s duty to guarantee equal opportunities for all participants in cycling events,” said Lappartient, who adopted the ban “as a precautionary measure.”

The UCI’s decision comes after several meetings with experts on the subject.

The solution comes at the moment when participation those athletes in different sports disciplines.

In swimming, for example, situations that happened with athletes caused the rejection of some female athletes, who even refused to participate in some competitions.