World Athletics panel finds 50–60 finalists with male biological advantages in women's events since 2000

A World Athletics panel in Tokyo on Friday disclosed that between 50 and 60 athletes with male biological advantages have reached the finals in the women's category at global and continental championships since 2000. The panel was convened to assess gender eligibility issues and was led by Dr. Stephane Bermon, head of World Athletics' Health and Science Department. The group concluded that sex testing is necessary because of an over-representation of athletes with differences of sex development, or DSD, among finalists.

World Athletics announced a policy change in March 2023 that excludes male-to-female transgender athletes who have gone through male puberty from women's competitions, a move it described as prioritizing fairness and integrity. The policy shift reflects ongoing efforts to balance inclusion with the need to preserve a level playing field across events that vary by sport and discipline.

A separate and longstanding point of contention centers on high-profile cases such as South Africa’s Caster Semenya, whose Olympic 800-meter gold in 2012 and 2016 drew global scrutiny, and Namibia’s Christine Mboma, who won silver in the 200 meters at the Tokyo Games in 2021. The issue has fed into broader governmental and international discussions about gender eligibility in sport. In October, the United Nations’ Reem Alsalem, the UN’s Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, published a report noting that nearly 900 biological females have been deprived of podium opportunities by transgender athletes. The report said more than 600 athletes did not medal in more than 400 competitions across 29 sports, affecting an estimated 890 medals in total. It argued that replacing the female category with a mixed-sex model has reduced chances for many female competitors.

The International Olympic Committee’s new president, Kirsty Coventry, addressed transgender participation at her first news conference since taking office and signaled broad support for protecting the female category. She said that while there would be differences across sports, it was essential to protect female competition “first and foremost to ensure fairness,” and that policy reform should be grounded in medical and scientific research, with an inclusive process that involves international federations. Coventry emphasized that changes are unlikely to be applied retroactively to past results and that the focus should be on moving forward rather than revising history.

The Paris Games in 2024 highlighted the stakes of these debates, with two boxers winning gold in women’s competition despite previously failing gender-eligibility tests for international events. Officials stressed that the lessons from those cases would inform future policy discussions and that decisions will be guided by ongoing research and cross-sport collaboration.

The panel’s findings underscore the complexity of gender eligibility rules in sport and the ongoing effort by World Athletics, the IOC, and other federations to craft policies that uphold fairness while respecting inclusion. As sports navigate this evolving landscape, governing bodies say they will rely on scientific evidence and broad, sport-specific dialogue to shape rules that apply to current athletes and future generations.