The rules for transgender people in sports are getting stricter

class=”sc-3778e872-0 gWjAEa”>

The International Athletics Association IAAF has received massive support for its latest decision. Women’s rights activists in particular are delighted. Now women’s sport is becoming fair again, according to the tenor. Women who were born male and have undergone gender reassignment only after puberty will not be allowed to start with females in the future.

Stricter rules also apply to intersex people, people with both male and female sexual characteristics. Like for the Namibian sprinter Christine Mboma, who won Olympic silver in the 200 meters in Tokyo in 2021. Such athletes must be able to demonstrate that their testosterone level has been below 2.5 nanomoles per liter of blood for six months.

Sports associations assume a testosterone limit

The IAAF is not the first association with relatively strict rules. The international swimming federation FINA goes one step further. There, the athletes must prove that they have never exceeded the maximum value of the male sex hormone testosterone (also 2.5 nanomol/litre) since puberty.

The rules in tennis are quite loose. The Woman’s Tennis Association (WTA) allows trans women to tour if they clearly identify with the female gender. There is an upper limit for testosterone levels. But it is relatively high at 10 nanomoles per liter of blood. For comparison: in an adult woman, this value is on average 0.5 to 2 nanomoles per litre.

FIFA has chosen the middle ground. Intersex and transgender football players may not exceed the limit of 5 nanomoles per liter of blood for a year. Athletes who naturally produce a lot of testosterone still have to take medication to lower their hormone levels. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) strongly advises against this. Such hormone therapies would have a major impact on mental and physical health. But the IOC does not have a conclusive answer to the question of how to deal with intersex athletes in top sport.

Source : Blick