The next Olympic Games are scheduled to be held in Los Angeles in 2028.
World Athletics, the sport’s governing body, has announced that athletes seeking to compete in the female category for world ranking competitions will be required to undergo a one-time gene test, effective September.
These new regulations will be implemented starting September 1, external, and will apply to the World Athletics Championships, scheduled for September 13-21 in Tokyo.
The SRY gene test, which detects the presence of the SRY gene on the Y chromosome responsible for male characteristic development, can be administered through a cheek swab or blood test.
Athletes testing negative for the Y chromosome will be eligible to compete in the female category.
Those testing positive will be eligible to compete in the female category in non-world ranking competitions or in categories other than the female category.
This test is designed as a lifetime assessment and will be overseen by member federations.
World Athletics President Lord Coe stated, “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.”
In a frequently asked questions section, World Athletics describes the test as “extremely accurate,” stating that “the risk of false negative or positive is extremely unlikely.”
World Boxing also approved the use of the SRY test in May, when it introduced mandatory sex testing for all athletes.
Coe added, “We are saying, at elite level, for you to compete in the female category you have to be biologically female.”
“It was always very clear to me and the World Athletics Council that gender cannot trump biology.”
“We particularly want to thank our member federations for their support and commitment in the implementation of these new regulations.”
World Athletics approved the introduction of a test in March to determine if an athlete is biologically female.
This was among several recommendations approved at that month’s World Athletics Council meeting, aimed at tightening regulations concerning the eligibility of transgender and difference of sex development (DSD) athletes.
World Athletics banned transgender athletes who had undergone male puberty from competing in the female category in international competitions in March 2023.
A working group also recommended that World Athletics merge regulations for both DSD and transgender athletes, citing new evidence suggesting that testosterone suppression “can only ever partly mitigate the overall male advantage in the sport of athletics.”
Current rules for DSD athletes require them to reduce their testosterone levels to a specified level for a minimum of six months to compete in any female category event internationally.
Earlier in July, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that two-time Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya had her right to a fair hearing violated by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court when she lost a 2020 appeal against World Athletics regulations that effectively barred her from competing.
Semenya, 34, who was born with DSD, has been unable to compete in the 800m since 2019, when World Athletics implemented rules restricting testosterone levels for track events from 400m up to the mile.
The ECHR case was not against sporting bodies or DSD rules, but specifically against Switzerland’s government for not protecting Semenya’s rights.