31-07-2025
World Athletics confirm gene testing for female eligibility ahead of World Championships
World Athletics has confirmed that gene testing for female eligibility will come into effect in time for the Tokyo World Championships in September.
The test will be enforced from September 1 and will consist of a once-in-a-lifetime cheek swab or blood test — whichever is more convenient — to detect the presence of the SRY gene, which is involved in male-typical sex development and is found on the Y chromosome.
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In March, World Athletics (WA) president Sebastian Coe said the test would be introduced to maintain the 'integrity of competition'.
'We are saying, at elite level, for you to compete in the female category, you have to be biologically female,' Coe said, in a press release on WA's website on Wednesday.
'It was always very clear to me and the World Athletics Council that gender cannot trump biology. It is really important in a sport that is permanently trying to attract more women that they enter a sport believing there is no biological glass ceiling.'
The governing body outlined the parameters of the female category on their website to include biological males who have not gone through male sexual development, including puberty, and biological males with a difference of sex development who 'satisfy the transitional provisions issued by WA'.
The transitional provisions do not apply to transgender women, however, as WA say there are none competing at elite level under the current regulations.
The regulation followed recommendations from the Gender Diverse Athlete Working Group, which WA say 'spent over a year studying developments in law, science, sports and society concerning gender-diverse athletes'.
The World Championships begin in Tokyo on September 13.
