The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has relaxed its policy on transgender athletes, no longer requiring sex reassignment surgery for an athlete to compete in the Olympic Games.
The Associated Press reported on the new IOC guidelines Sunday. According to the AP, the new policy no longer requires surgery for eligibility, leaving no restrictions on female-to-male transgender athletes for Olympic participation.
Male-to-female transgender athletes, meanwhile, no longer need gender reassignment surgery, but do have to show a testosterone level under a certain cutoff barrier for at least a full year before gaining eligibility. That means at least a year of hormone therapy, and more than a year in many cases – the AP report notes that different people see their testosterone levels drop at different rates after starting hormone therapy. An athlete will have to get below the limit before the one-year countdown to eligibility begins.
The old IOC guidelines (adopted in 2003) required both female-to-male and male-to-female transgender athletes to undergo gender reassignment surgery and go through two or more years of hormone therapy.
It should be noted that the IOC guidelines are not strict rules – they are recommendations for each international sports federation to follow in crafting their own specific rules on transgender participation.
The AP reports that IOC officials said they changed the guidelines “to adapt to current scientific, social and legal attitudes on transgender issues.”
It’s NOT just about the testosterone.
We will see what FINA does…
Now about the locker rooms…….
Then what is it about? The IOC already allows transgender people to compete.
The comments above regarding prior development of male characteristics that may give an advantage are moot. The reason is that the IOC only changed its policy to no longer require surgery. In effect, the surgery does not remove advantages that wereviewed gained during puberty, etc, as a result of prior high testosterone levels. All this does is make the rules more inclusive.
Bruce Jenner won the men’s 1976 gold medal in the decathlon by 207 points over silver medalist Kratschmer of West Germany (a very dominating performance)..
I wonder how Caitlin Jenner would have fared in the women’s 1976 Olympic pentathlon (the 5-event sorta equivalent to the decathlon, later expanded to the 7-event heptathlon). The East German women swept the podium in that event in 1976 (surprise, surprise).
There were only two common events in the men’s decathlon and the women’s heptathlon: the long jump and the high jump.
Let’s compare the two gold medalists performances (Bruce Jenner in the decathlon and Siegrun Siegl in the pentathlon).
High Jump:
Siegl — 1.74m (5′ 8″)
Jenner — 2.03m (6′ 8″)
Long… Read more »
SVEN you said none of those boys will be able to sustain a massive drop in testosterone levels and still win against ledecky. yes and no
if those genetic males had begun taking female hormones before puberty then yes
if they began taking female hormones after puberty then no.
i read baldingeagle,s comment and some of it was spot on and some of it off.
now let me break it down. but first let me start by introducing you to michelle dumaresq (an amateur 30 something year old transgender cyclist who completely dominated professional female cyclists in Canada). he/she won by 10 seconds in one of his/her races.
michelle dumaresq was the following
1) started riding as an amateur… Read more »
Thank you for the comment, and I totally agree that a distinction needs to be made between pre- and post-puberty hormone therapy. Honestly, though, that particular comment was really more tongue-in-cheek hyperbole about how dominant KL is than a serious post about the advantages of transgender athletes. Gina made a good point, as well, about how fickle society is in wanting their champions to have a conventionally feminine appearance.
so the east germans were 30 years too early
I’m not sure where I stand on this. I’m all about finding a way to promote inclusivity in the sport, but no amount of hormone therapy is going to change the skeletal structure, so I’m not sure how it can really be said there is no advantage for a M-F athlete. Hand/foot size, arm length, hip width, etc. Many factors that allow males to propel more effectively ARE mitigated by hormone therapy, and I want to trust that the IOC has done their due diligence in researching this matter. On the other hand, however, it’s the IOC and, on a more serious note, I feel that there are just as many factors allowing males to propel more effectively that are… Read more »
Yes ! For research purpose I studied the Brazilian mens pics & have got quite a few possibilities . I think I could do something with the faces , might have to shave off some jawline & adams apple surgery but great prospects . I think we will need some extra compression undies & hollywood tape but it’s all good .
The only way to stop Ledecky winning forever .
Btw we don’t want some big ugly brute but someone personable , stylish & a slinky hipped without monster feet & man hands to make it fair & watchable . I’m going to scan the Brazilian distance boys for possibilities.
I was getting bored with sport but this could be fun.
I dunno, Gina, I like the idea of making the women’s distance events less of a bloodbath but I’m afraid it’s likely that none of those boys are so far ahead of KL that they could sustain a massive drop in testosterone levels and still win.