Candidates for IOC president on transgender athletes in women's sport

PYLOS, Greece :The increasingly polarising debate over transgender athletes in women’s sport has become a key issue for candidates vying to become the next president of the International Olympic Committee. 

This is what the contenders said on the issue in their official bids for the top job in world sport.

Below are references to the issue contained in the manifestos of five of the seven candidates, published in December. Two candidates did not express a view in their manifestos. The link to their full documents can be found here: manifestos.

David Lappartient: French, head of the International Cycling Federation (UCI).

As for transgender athletes, it is a complex matter that must be dealt with rationally to strike the right balance between the need to respect human rights and the obligation to ensure fair competition. 

We cannot ignore what female athletes are saying, but our decisions must also be grounded on solid scientific evidence.

The IOC must guide International Federations towards decisions based on common principles and avoid a situation in which each International Federation takes a different stance in equivalent scenarios, which could harm the unity of the Olympic Movement. 

However, we need to accept that the response may vary from one sport to the next.

Johan Eliasch: Swedish/British, president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).

Women’s sports must be ring-fenced: no ifs, no buts. There can be no grey areas. The integrity of women’s sport must be protected whatever the cultural pressures. 

We must be guided by biological fact, not cultural trends. 

Regardless of current testosterone levels, exposure to puberty creates sex differences in height, weight and so on which can provide a sporting