World Athletics has confirmed that its council has voted to exclude transgender women from female events.
The ruling, which will be enforced from 31 March this year, applies to elite competition transgender athletes who have transitioned from male to female after going through puberty. The council also voted to cut the maximum amount of plasma testosterone for athletes with differences in sex development (DSD) in half, to 2.5 nanomoles per litre from five.
The tighter rules will impact DSD athletes such as two-time Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya, Christine Mboma, the Olympic silver medallist in the 200m at the Tokyo Games, and Francine Niyonsaba, who finished runner-up to Semenya in the 800m at Rio 2016.
“The World Athletics Council has today taken decisive action to protect the female category in our sport and do so by restricting the participation of trans athletes,” said Sebastian Coe, the World Athletics president.
In another statement, Lord Coe has said Russian athletes will remain barred from track and field “for the foreseeable future” because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee is exploring a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals at next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics, says transgender women who have gone through male puberty will be excluded from female world ranking competitions from 31 March this year.
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However, it appears likely they will not be able to feature in athletics in Paris, arguably the highest-profile Olympic sport.
Coe told a press conference: “The World Athletics Council approved to continue to exclude Russian and Belarus athletes from all World Series events for the foreseeable future due to the invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine.”
More to follow …