Transgender athletes have been banned from female sports, the World Athletics Council today announced.
President Lord Coe confirmed that female transgender athletes who had gone through male puberty would not be permitted to compete in female world ranking competitions from March 31, 2023.
Coe said: “Where the science is insufficient to justify maintaining testosterone suppression for transgender athletes, the council agreed it must be guided by our overarching principle, which is to protect the female category,” he said.
“We cannot in all conscience leave our transgender regulations as they were at five nanomoles per litre for at least one year when we were unsure about the impact of doing so across all our disciplines. So we need to know more and we need to know more now.”
He added: “We’re not saying no forever.”
A task force will also be set up to “consult specifically with transgender athletes to seek views on competing in athletics” and to “review and maybe commission” additional research.
The group will comprise of an independent chair, “up to three council members”, two athletes from the Athletes Commission, a transgender athlete from athletics, three representatives of non-member federations and representatives of the World Athletics Health and Science Department.
