CNN
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World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has strengthened the organization's policy regarding transgender athletes participating in track and field, saying the regulations “will remain in place.”
A little less than a year ago, World Athletics announced that athletes who have experienced so-called “male puberty” will be barred from participating in women's world ranking competitions.
Track and field's governing body announced that the exemption also applies to transgender women, who will be barred from competing in some women's track and field events.
“It was the right decision then and it's the right decision now,” Coe told CNN Sports' Amanda Davis at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
“These regulations are here to stay, and if we have to protect them, then we have the idea that it is absolutely important to protect, protect and preserve the category of women. Based on this, I intend to continue defending it.”
When the ruling was announced last March, Coe said the decision had been made following consultation with World Athletics member federations, the Global Athletics Coaches Academy, the International Olympic Committee, as well as leading transgender organizations and human rights organizations. He said that the decision was made after a long period of time.
However, some pro-LGBTQ rights groups criticized the decision after it was announced as discriminatory.
“We are devastated to see World Athletics bowing to political pressure, ignoring its core principles of inclusion, equity and non-discrimination for transgender athletes and athletes with intersex variations. Hudson Taylor, founder and executive director of the advocacy group Athletes Ally, said. time.
British LGBTQ rights charity Stonewall said the rules were “disappointing”.
CNN has reached out to Athlete Ally and Stonewall for comment on Coe's interview.
In recent years, there has been a growing list of governing bodies restricting transgender women from competing in the women's division.
Among them is swimming governing body World Aquatics, which states that transgender women are only classified as girls if they change their sex before the age of 12 or if they are not above stage 2 of the Tanner scale of puberty. He is eligible to participate in the. .
World Athletics does not clearly define what it means to have “experienced male adolescence.” Puberty is a multi-year process that begins at the age of nine.
Coe said testosterone is a major determinant of performance, but there remains debate in the scientific community as to whether androgenic hormones like testosterone serve as useful markers of athletic advantage. There is.
“There's a lot of research being done in this area, and I have a lot of confidence in people who are far more qualified than me to make this judgment and that it will actually make a difference. ' said Mr Coe.
A 2021 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that while trans women's hemoglobin (which helps blood cells carry oxygen) levels were similar to cisgender women's, after 12 months of hormone therapy, their muscle strength , lean body mass, and muscle area were also found to be significantly reduced. However, we observed greater treatment effects than cisgender women.
Coe explained last year that World Athletics would establish a working group to assess transgender inclusion issues in athletics, and said that process is currently underway.
“This is important because I'm not a federation or a computer,” Coe said. “It's important to keep up with scientific developments.”
Mr Coe added that he thought it was “important that a federation of sensible adults would want to follow the discussion”.