British Triathlon Federation reserves women's events 'for those who are female sex at birth'

By Matt Foster, CNN

Updated 1641 GMT (0041 HKT) July 6, 2022

The British Triathlon Federation (BTF) announced the decision on Wednesday.

(CNN)The British Triathlon Federation (BTF) has announced new categories for competitive events which are reserved «for those who are the female sex at birth.»

The sport's governing body in Britain made the policy change «to ensure that it reflects the needs of our sport, protects fairness in competition and serves our desire to make triathlon truly inclusive.»The decision was announced via a statement on the BTF's website on Wednesday. The British government defines a person's sex as being assigned at birth, according to BTF's policy guide. According to the statement, the policy «confirms that Triathlon is a gender-affected sport and so for competitive events (those races that have prizes, times, and/or rankings) for athletes over the age of 12, there will be two categories; a Female Category, (for those who are the female sex at birth), and an Open Category, (for all individuals including male, transgender and those non-binary who were male sex at birth).»Read MoreTransgender and non-binary players can choose men's or women's team, says German FABritish Triathlon, from their policy guide, believes that the science behind the biological sporting performance advantages that men have over women is «unequivocal.»«Where this is competitive activity, fairness is paramount,» Andy Salmon, chief executive of British Triathlon, told the BBC. «Our sport is gender-affected.» In the statement, the BTF also stated their commitment to inclusion, noting that «triathlon is a sport for everyone and that transphobic behaviour will not be tolerated.»«British Triathlon wants to make clear, that it does