Lynsey Sharp says she'd have won Rio 2016 Olympic bronze under current gender rules

Former Scottish middle-distance runner Lynsey Sharp says she would have won a bronze medal in the 800 meters at the 2016 Rio Olympics if today’s gender-testing rules had been in place. Sharp, 35, from Dumfries, finished sixth in the Rio final, behind three athletes who are now banned under differences of sexual development (DSD) regulations.

Sharp told Sky Sports that the sport has changed considerably since she was competing. “Sometimes I look back and think I could have had an Olympic medal, but I gave it my all that day and that was the rules at the time. Obviously, I wish I was competing nowadays, but that was my time in the sport and that’s how it was,” she said.

The Rio 800m final saw South Africa’s Caster Semenya take gold, Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba silver, and Margaret Nyairera Wambui of Kenya bronze. All three would now be unable to compete under the current rules. In a major policy overhaul introduced this year, World Athletics now requires athletes competing in the female category at the elite level of the sport to take a gene test. The tests identify the SRY gene, which is on the Y chromosome and triggers the development of male characteristics. The tests replace previous rules whereby athletes with DSD were able to compete as long as they artificially reduced their testosterone levels.

Sharp said that while she was competing, governing bodies “didn’t really deal with the issue head on,” and she was often portrayed as a “sore loser” over the issue. Despite running a Scottish record in the Rio final—a personal best—she described the experience as a “really difficult time.”

Her remarks come as British athletics star and Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson is tipped to win her first world title in tomorrow’s women’s 800m final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, returning from two torn hamstrings.

Sharp enjoyed a number of sporting highlights during her career. She became the 800m European champion in 2012 and represented Great Britain at that year’s Olympic Games in London. She also took the silver medal in the event when the Commonwealth Games were staged in Glasgow two years later.