I have been criticising Sir Sebastian from the very first day of his presidency. To my eyes World Athletics did never take courageous and/or groundbreaking decisions. That's it till now. In a press release that surprised me enormously World Athletics announced that transgender women will not be allowed to participate in women's competitions.
Hallelujah!
From March 31, 2023, transgender, male-to-female, athletes who have been through male puberty, are excluded from female competitions, so as to protect the future of the female category. The decision was reached after consultation with national federations, the coaches academy, the athletes' commission, the IOC as well as representative transgender and human rights groups.
Coe admitted that there will be reactions to the decision, but said that Athletics has always been guided by the principle of fairness. In his own words:
“Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations. We believe the integrity of the female category in athletics is paramount”.
And in order to appease the minds of the transgender community the WA council agreed to set up a Working Group for 12 months to further consider the issue of transgender inclusion.
It is expected that LGBTQ+ groups like Stonewall will react to the decision. Just recently they declared that "the trans population have every right to participate in sports and enjoy the many physical, mental and community benefits of sports". My naïve question to this statement is "why can't they enjoy the benefits of sports competing in the men's category?". Ricki Coughlan, an australian transgender runner, said that the WA ruling would "embolden the 'forces of hate' against transgender people".
Fortunately the LGBTQ+ voices are not the only ones to be heard. The group Fair Play For Women welcomed the WA decision as being "the right thing for women and girls, in line with all the scientific evidence and common sense”.
To tell the truth I was less surprised by the decision on transgender than by the one on DSD athletes. Those who follow my blog know that I have been most unhappy by the presence of athletes like Semenya or Niyonsaba. I wrote time and again on this question, criticising in particular the existence of restricted events. Since the DSD regulations concerned distances from 400 m to the mile, DSD athletes could very well avoid them by moving downwards or upwards. So, C. Mboma obtained a silver olympic medal over 200 m, while F. Niyonsaba moved to the 5000 m and would have obtained a medal in the Olympics had she not been disqualified for lane violation. (C. Semenya, also tried to convert to the longer distance but given her somatotype that was a desperate move, probably meant to entice sympathy).
So from March 31, there are no more restricted events. At long last, the DSD restrictions apply to all track and field events. Moreover the new regulations require any relevant athletes to reduce their testosterone levels below a limit of 2.5 nmol/L for a minimum of 24 months to compete internationally in the female category. There are interim provisions for the events that were unrestricted before, requiring a six-month testosterone suppression while for the previously restricted events the two-year suppression is mandatory.
What does all this mean in practice? Simply, no DSD athletes will be allowed to take place neither in the World Championships not in the Diamond League. The six-month period carries us to the end of September and, practically, the end of the season.
Sir Sebastian boasted that
“We have been prepared to take these issues head on. In the past they would have been allowed to drift or be kicked into the long grass. That is not the nature of my leadership and it is certainly not the instincts of my council”.
Although I would beg to differ concerning the "nature of Coe's leadership" this is the time that I have only praises for him and the WA Council.
Full disclosure: I was going to write a post following an article which appeared in Inside the Games on a law proposed by republican legislators in the US aiming at banning transgender women from competing in women's teams (in fact only for high schools and colleges). I was going to give my post the title
I never thought I would side with the MAGA gang
I disagree with those bozos on almost everything. But banning transwomen from women's sports is the one domain where I am 100 % in agreement with them.
Republicans control the Congress and so the bill would most probably pass. However since the Democrats control the Senate the bill could be defeated there and, in the worst case scenario, the champions of the woke-ism would expect president Biden to veto the law.
Frankly I do not understand what the supposedly progressive people are thinking. Are they ready to sacrifice women sports to a band of cheaters who, profiting from the current, gender-fluid, age of identity, decided to obtain in women's category the honours that are beyond their reach in the men's one?
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