Transgender Athletes

Transgender Athletes and the Olympics 

Over the last few years, there has been some controversy present in regard to what group transgender individuals should be allowed to participate in during the Olympic events. The IOC, International Olympic Committee, has decided that official guidelines will be discussed and determined post-Tokyo games.

In this year’s Olympic games, there is set to be 11,000 athletes participating with 3 of those individuals being transgender. These individuals include BMX freestyle rider Chelsea Wolfe of the United States, Brazilian volleyball player Tifanny Abreu, and weightlifter Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand (NBC, 2020). 

Since it is so close to the qualifying events, IOC’s medical and scientific director Richard Budgett stated that changing the policy so close to the Tokyo Olympic Games would be “unfair and unethical” and the conversations would pick up after the closing of the 2020 games. This issue has been discussed for quite a while now regarding if these individuals should be required to compete in the male category or the female category. Athletes, doctors, and human rights experts have all been asked to collaborate with the IOC to provide their knowledge and opinions to ensure the right decisions are being made moving forward. 

In the past, “previous guidelines from 2015 set a permitted level of testosterone level in serum at below 10 nanomoles per liter for one year” and Budgett states that “ for us to just go and change the level of testosterone without getting the proper framework in place would just be wrong” (NBC, 2020). The issue that is being discussed lies within the fairness of transitioned women to compete with having physical advantages from being born male. Although they have transitioned to a female body and identify as a female, their genetic makeup given to them at birth consists of male parts, which can pose an unfair advantage when competing against other females whose genetic makeup from birth is female parts. Typically, men are stronger, bigger, taller, faster, etc. which can give these transitioned women an advantage when competing in their respective sports (NBC, 2020). Men also have significantly high testosterone levels when compared to women, which puts them ahead of women in regard to building strength and improving athletic performance. Since these transitioned women may still have the testosterone levels an average man would, they have a higher chance of performing better than the average male in certain physical activities. The IOC understands this is an extremely sensitive subject and Budgett and the IOC want to make sure that the committee is making decisions that are fair and inclusive for all athletes in Olympic events to come.

The matter at hand has the reality to be seen as a very controversial issue with individuals on opposing sides fighting on both sides for what they think is right. Currently, the focus is ensuring that transitioned individuals feel comfortable and respected, while ensuring the events aren’t compromised due to biological advantages/disadvantages. Budgett states, “whatever is put in place moving forward will undoubtably upset a lot of people” and there is “no easy answer” as to what should be implemented by the next Olympics.

Shayla Bannert

Resources:

The Associated Press. (2020, March 5). Olympic advice on transgender athletes due after Tokyo

Games. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/olympic-advice-transgender-athletes-due-after-tokyo-games-n1150426