Fair and Unfair Olympic Sports

By Jane Sullivan

Paris 2024 is being marketed at the ‘Gender Equal’ Olympics. Thirty-two sports are represented at the Games from Archery to Weightlifting.

Only SIX international sports federation specifically exclude males who have been through male puberty from the female category. They are:

• athletics (but see note below);

• cycling (all disciplines);

• rugby;

• sailing (including windsurfing);

• swimming (all disciplines including diving and water polo);

• weightlifting.

There are two ‘mixed’ sports. Equestrian is not ‘gender-affected’ and is a mixed sex competition. Shooting has male and female categories but states that it is not a ‘gender-affected’ sport therefore has no policy.

The other TWENTY-FOUR sports either have no international policy and allow national governing bodies to set their own rules, have policies that allow males to compete in female categories or follow IOC guidelines. How would this affect the athletes?

No international policy

Different National Governing Bodies set different rules so Country A could decide to exclude males from the female category, while Country B decides that males may identify into the female category. Women from Country A would be rightly aggrieved to come up against a male at the Olympics from Country B.

Take Badminton as an example. England Badminton restricts sanctioned competitions to female at birth. World Badminton has no policy but a ‘case-by-case’ approach. In theory a woman could qualify for the Olympics under the fair English system and then be drawn against a male at international level. That’s not fair.

Policies that allow males to identify into the female category

Eight of the sports at the Olympics set specific testosterone (T) levels for males to achieve before being cleared to compete in the female category.

They are:

• Archery

• Rowing

• Skateboard

• Surfing

• Taekwondo

• Tennis

• Triathlon

• Wrestling

There is no consistency between the sports. In skateboarding a male would have to reduce his testosterone to 2.5nmol/l for 12 months while in wrestling the rules are to reduce testosterone to 10nmol/l T for 24 months. Some sports ask for 5nmol/l T for 12 months or 24 months, others 2.5nmol/l for 24 months. It’s a mess. And completely ignores the elephant in the room that reducing testosterone does nothing to erase male advantage.

Following IOC Guidelines

IOC guidelines published in 2015 stated "The athlete's total testosterone level in serum must remain below 10 nmol/L throughout the period of desired eligibility to compete in the female category".

This has been superseded by the 2021 document 'Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination on the basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations' with no testosterone requirements. In this document, the IOC states that there should be no presumption of advantage when it comes to allowing males to compete in female sports. Sports that follow the IOC Framework are opening the door to any male who wants to self-identify into the Olympic Games.

There are bizarre anomalies.

Athletics, cycling and swimming exclude trans-identifying males from the female category. Triathlon, which is running, swimming, cycling, does not. British Triathlon has protected the female category but World Triathlon hasn’t. It’s the same for rowing.

In the table below, we list the Olympic sports with links to their policies. While the ‘big’ name sports have moved to protect the female category, there are still too many – football, tennis, hockey, basketball – where males could easily self-identify into the female category making Paris the Unequal Olympics.

For more details about sports policies read the blog: Paris – The Unequal Olympics 

	Sport	Policy	Link
1	Archery	Allows males who reduce testosterone to <2.5nmol/l for 24 months into female category	World Archery Policy
2	Athletics	Transgender policy: No males if they have gone through male puberty. DSD[1] policy: Allows males with DSDs into some female races if testosterone is <2.5nmol/l for 24 months.	World Athletics Policy
3	Badminton	No specific policy. Case-by-case basis	Badminton Eligibility Policy
4	Basketball	No international policy – governing bodies follow their own policies	Basketball Eligibility Policy
5	Boxing	No formal policy but states that opponents must be fairly matched	World Boxing Council statement
6	Breaking	No international policy	World Dance Sport Federation Policy
7	Canoeing (all disciplines)	No international policy	International Canoe Federation Statement
8	Cycling (all disciplines)	No males who have transitioned after male puberty or age of 12 years	International Cyclists Union Policy
9	Equestrian	Mixed sport. Not gender-affected.	International Equestrian Federation Statement
10	Fencing	No international policy	International Fencing
11	Football	Current policy dates to 2011 – under review	FIFA statement on gender verification
12	Gymnastics	No international policy	International Gymnastics Federation
13	Golf	No international policy but Professional Golf Associations (PGA and LPGA) allow males in female game	International Golf Federation Policies
14	Handball	No international policy. But competition rules state that there should be no unfair advantage	International Handball Federation statement
15	Hockey (Field)	Case-by-case basis.	International Hockey Federation Gender Equality Policy
16	Judo	No international policy	International Judo Federation
17	Modern Pentathlon	No international policy	International union modern pentathlon eligibility rules
18	Rowing	Allows males who reduce T to <2.5nmol for 24 months	World Rowing Transgender statement
19	Rugby 7s	No males who have transitioned after male puberty or age of 12 years	World Rugby Transgender Guidelines
20	Sailing (all disciplines including windsurfing)	No males who have transitioned after male puberty or age of 12 years	World Sailing guidelines
21	Shooting	Allows males to compete in female category. States that shooting is not ‘gender-affected’	International Sport Shooting Federation guidelines
22	Skateboard	Allows males who reduce T <5nmol/l for 12 months	World Skate Eligibility Policy
23	Sport Climbing	Follows IOC guidelines	Sport Climbing Federation policy
24	Surfing	Allows males who reduce T <5nmol for 12 months	International Surf Federation Transgender Guidelines
25	Swimming (all disciplines including artistic swimming, diving, water polo)	No males who’ve gone through puberty. All international athletes to verify their sex via their national federation.	World Aquatics Transgender Policy
26	Table Tennis	No international policy	International Table Tennis Federation Policy
27	Taekwondo	Allows male who reduce T <10nmol/l for 12 months	World Taekwondo Transgender Policy
28	Tennis	Allows males who reduce T <5nmol/l for 12 months	International Tennis Federation Transgender Policy
29	Triathlon	Allows males who reduce T <2.5nmol for 24 months	World Triathlon Transgender Policy
30	Volleyball	ONE male player allowed per female team	International Volleyball Guidelines
31	Weightlifting	No males after puberty	International Weightlifting Federation
32	Wrestling (includes Greco-Roman)	Allows males who reduce T <10nmol for 12 months	World Wrestling Transgender Guidelines

[1] Disorders of Sexual Development sometimes referred to as Differences of Sexual Development