After American swimmer Lia Thomas won an NCAA championship in March, FINA, the international organization that oversees the sport, ruled Sunday that transgender athletes can no longer compete in women’s events unless they have passed the transition before the age of 12. , should be tested for testosterone.
Instead, FINA will seek to create “open” divisions for transgender competition if there is demand.
“We need to protect the rights of our athletes to compete, but we also need to protect competitive equity in our events, especially the women’s category,” FINA President Husain Al-Musallam said in a statement.
This was the simplest and fairest solution to a problem that came before the governing bodies knew exactly what to do. The FINA decision is likely to be exhausted during swimming and other sports.
World Athletics, which oversees athletics, said it would review its policy, and President Sebastian Coe, himself a four-time Olympic medalist, backed FINA’s approach. Other sports are sure to follow, or at least should follow.
In the long run, creating a third division and eliminating the perception that transgender athletes are a “threat,” or in any way controversial, political, or tinged with negativity, should do more to promote acceptance that the current settings.
While the issue of transgender athletes has certainly been hijacked at times by complacent fans and politicians, that doesn’t mean the problems weren’t legitimate, even for many who are well-meaning and inclusive.
Doing so as a zero-sum problem was counterproductive and incorrect. This is not a test of whether young people who are going through difficult, and sometimes dangerous, times in their lives should be supported. You can be 100% committed to helping their causes and continue to support 100% of the FINA decision.
And if the day comes when transgender athletes can excite fans and spectators to their own competitions without sporting controversy, they will probably do wonders by showing the same talent, dedication, work ethic, and personality as other athletes. They have amazing stories to tell and races to run.
The story goes on
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas accepts the winning trophy in the 500 freestyle finals as runner-up Emma Weyant and runner-up Erica Sullivan. (Rich von Biberstein / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
It was obvious that Thomas, who was a good swimmer, but barely of championship caliber, as a male, had undue advantages despite following all current guidelines.
Taken to their logical conclusions, where there could be a dozen, or dozens, transgender athletes competing in a race, female athletes would be expelled from elite competition or even put themselves at physical risk in contact sports. like football and basketball.
“Without eligibility standards based on biological sex or gender-related traits, it is very unlikely that we will see organic women in the finals, podiums or championship positions,” the FINA policy paper concluded. “And in sports and events involving collisions and projectiles, female biological athletes would be at greater risk of injury.”
Previously, FINA and other organizations tried to manage this by testing testosterone levels. However, his research showed that the obvious benefits can come from going through puberty as a child; in the case of swimming, things like height, arm length, hand and foot size, and so on.
No one wants to stop anyone from swimming. FINA is in the business of promoting it. However, not having a real competitive opportunity for a biological woman could decrease participation as much as anything. Same with any other sport.
“My responsibility is to protect the integrity of women’s sports, and we take that very seriously,” said Coe of World Athletics. “… And I have always made it clear: if I am ever pushed into a corner to the point where we make a judgment about equity or inclusion, I will always fall on the side of equity.
“You have to do it and that’s my responsibility,” Coe continued. “It simply came to our notice then. If one of my teammates suddenly becomes transgender, that makes no difference to me. They will continue to do the same job with skill and poise exactly as they were before making this transition.
“That’s not possible in sports. It’s critical to performance and integrity and that, to me, is the big difference.”
Coe is right, at least according to current science. Hopefully for FINA to step up and make the right call. And good for others who will follow suit.
That had to be the solution.
We hope that the same energy from both sides that is dedicated to arguing this issue will now be devoted to promoting access to competition and then to celebrating the athletic achievements of transgender and biologically female athletes.
That would be a victory for everyone.