World Athletics to exclude transgender female athletes from women's competitions

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World Athletics on Thursday announced its decision to exclude transgender female athletes who have been through male puberty from world rankings competitions.

The international governing body for track and field and other running-related athletic events said its decision would have no consequences for athletes right now because there are no transgender athletes competing internationally.

"World Athletics conducted a consultation period with various stakeholders in the first two months of this year, including Member Federations, the Global Athletics Coaches Academy and Athletes’ Commission, the IOC as well as representative transgender and human rights groups," the organization said.

"It became apparent that there was little support within the sport for the option that was first presented to stakeholders, which required transgender athletes to maintain their testosterone levels below 2.5nmol/L for 24 months to be eligible to compete internationally in the female category.

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Lord Sebastian Coe, World Athletics president, makes a keynote speech during the European Athletics Young Leaders Forum on Aug. 18, 2022. in Munich, Germany. (Simon Hofmann/Getty Images for European Athletics)

"In terms of DSD regulations, World Athletics has more than 10 years of research and evidence of the physical advantages that these athletes bring to the female category.

"However, there are currently no transgender athletes competing internationally in athletics and consequently no athletics-specific evidence of the impact these athletes would have on the fairness of female competition in athletics.

"In