The international sports governing body, World Athletics, has approved the introduction of mandatory cheek swabbing to determine an athlete’s gender. The organisation’s president, Sebastian Coe, said a decision was made to doggedly protect the female category in the sport.
Talking to reporters in Nanjing, China, today, Mr Coe said the move aims to pave the way for providing confidence and maintaining that absolute focus on the integrity of competition. He said the decision was taken after a wide consultation on the proposal. He emphasised his commitment to the issue by highlighting the body’s willingness to go to the Court of Arbitration over the Difference of Sexual Development (DSD) regulations.
As per media reports, World Athletics’ intention is to have the testing in place for athletes wanting to compete in the female category at the World Championships to be held in Tokyo from 13th to 21st of September this year.
A World Athletics working group on gender-diverse athletes said in February that the required test will be for the SRY gene and, if required, testosterone levels. This will be taken through a cheek swab with any necessary follow-up or via dry blood spot analysis. The SRY gene is almost always on the Y chromosome, which plays a crucial role in determining male sex characteristics.