World Athletics: Governing body poised to introduce cheek swab tests as part of proposed female category eligibility rules

World Athletics is the governing body for track and field

World Athletics is proposing changes to its eligibility regulations for those who want to compete in the elite female category, including a cheek swab test.

The track and field governing body has opened a consultation with athletes over eligibility conditions for the elite female category around the current differences in sex development (DSD) and transgender guidelines, stating that an updated set of rules was required due to "the latest developments in science, sport and law".

Five recommendations were put forward by a working group, which were approved by the World Athletics Council in December and have now put forward for consultation with the body's stakeholders.

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The consultation period, which started on Monday and runs until March 5, will only seek athletes' views on the impact of the changes. Alternative policy suggestions are not being sought as part of the consultation.

The recommendations include formally affirming the design of the female category, revising eligibility regulations, merging the DSD and transgender regulations, and adopting a one-time pre-clearance requirement for all athletes competing in the category.

The World Athletics consultation document read: "The required test will be for the SRY gene and, if required, testosterone levels, either via cheek swab with any necessary follow-up or via dry blood spot analysis.

"In this context the SRY gene, which is almost always on the Y chromosome, is used as a highly accurate proxy for biological sex but makes room for an additional diagnostic process at the athlete's discretion."

A World Athletics Council meeting later in March is expected to set out when the new regulations could be introduced.

Sebastian Coe is the president of World Athletics

The current rules for DSD athletes require them to reduce their testosterone levels below 2.5 nmol/L for at least six months to compete in any female category event internationally. Previously the requirement to lower testosterone had only applied to athletes competing at distances between 400 metres and one mile.

Changes to transgender eligibility rules in 2023 banned any athlete who had been through any part of male puberty from competing in the female category.

In its consultation document, World Athletics said that "new evidence clarifies that there is already an athletically significant performance gap before the onset of puberty."

"The childhood or pre-pubertal performance gap in the sport of athletics specifically is three to five percent in running events, and higher in throwing and jumping events," the document read.

"New evidence establishes that athletic disadvantages associated with female body structure and physiology contribute to the performance gap."

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World Athletics president Lord Sebastian Coe said: "While our current eligibility regulations for DSD and transgender athletes are robust and based on the science available at the time of our last consultation, several scientific developments in this field have emerged since then and it is our role, as the global governing body for athletics, to ensure that our guidelines keep up with the latest information available to maintain a fair and level playing field in the female category.

"Preserving the integrity of competition in the female category is a fundamental principle of the sport of athletics and we look forward to this collaborative consultation process with our key stakeholders in this area."