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June 19, 2022 • 3 hours ago • 3 minutes reading • 76 comments Penn Quakers swimmer Lia Thomas on the indoor pool of the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships at Georgia Tech. Photo by Brett Davis / USA TODAY Sports
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BUDAPEST – FINA’s global swimming governing body voted Sunday to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in elite women’s competitions and set up a working group to establish an “open” category for them at some events as part of its new policy.
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Transgender rights have become one of the main points of discussion, as sports seek to balance inclusion while ensuring that there are no unfair advantages.
The debate intensified after University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became the first NCAA transgender champion in Division I history after winning the 500-yard women’s freestyle earlier this year. .
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University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas smiles after winning the 100-yard freestyle during the 2022 Ivy League Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at Blodgett Pool on February 19, 2022 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo by Kathryn Riley / Getty Images
Thomas has expressed his desire to compete for a place in the Olympics, but the new FINA rule would block his participation.
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The decision of FINA, the strictest by any Olympic sports body, was taken during its extraordinary general congress after members heard a report from a transgender working group made up of prominent medical, legal and sports personalities.
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The new eligibility policy for FINA competitions states that transgender male-to-female athletes can only compete if “they can establish, to the comfortable satisfaction of FINA, that they have not experienced any part of male puberty anymore. beyond Tanner stage 2 (puberty) or earlier. 12 years, whichever is later. “
The policy was approved by a majority of approximately 71% after being presented to members of 152 voting national federations who had gathered for the congress at the Puskas Arena.
“We need to protect the rights of our athletes to compete, but we also need to protect competitive justice at our events, especially the women’s category in FINA competitions,” said FINA President Husain Al-Musallam.
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“FINA will always welcome all athletes. Creating an open category will mean that everyone has the opportunity to compete at an elite level. This had not been done before, so FINA will have to lead the way. I want all athletes to feel included so they can develop ideas during this process. “
FINA’s new policy also opens up eligibility to those who have “complete androgen insensitivity and therefore could not experience male puberty.”
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Swimmers who have had “male puberty suppressed from Tanner stage 2 or before age 12, whichever is later, and have since continuously maintained their serum (or plasma) testosterone levels below 2.5 nmol / L “. they can also compete in women’s races.
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HIGH DIVISION
Transgender athletes (transgender men) are fully eligible to compete in men’s swimming competitions.
The issue of transgender inclusion in sport is very divisive, especially in the United States, where it has become a weapon in the so-called “cultural war” between conservatives and progressives.
Proponents of transgender inclusion argue that not enough studies have yet been done on the impact of the transition on physical performance, and that elite athletes are often atypical physical in any case.
The International Olympic Committee issued a “framework” on the issue, leaving eligibility decisions to individual sports entities, but added that “until the evidence determines otherwise, athletes should not be considered an unfair or disproportionate competitive advantage due to their variations in sex, physical appearance and / or transgender status ”.
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Athlete Ally, an advocacy group for LGBTQI + people in sports, condemned FINA’s decision.
“The new FINA eligibility criteria for transgender athletes and athletes with intersex variations are discriminatory, harmful, unscientific and are not in line with the IOC principles of 2021. If we really want to protect women’s sport, we must “Include all women,” they said in a Twitter post.
Former Sharron Davies, who won Olympic silver at the 1980 Games and has advocated a more restrictive policy, welcomed the decision.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of my sport, FINA and the president of FINA to do science, ask athletes / coaches and defend fair sport for women. Swimming will always welcome everyone, no matter how you identify, but equity is the cornerstone of the sport. “
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