A collection of over 100 human rights groups have raised concerns over the ethics and “fairness” of the International Olympics Committee’s decision to use mandatory genetic sex testing to determine eligibility for future women’s events.
IOC president Kirsty Coventry announced on Thursday that eligibility for the women’s category at future Olympic events will be determined by a one-time gene-screening test, starting from the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
The committee said any athletes found to posses the sex-determining SRY gene – a gene located on the Y chromosome – would be ineligible for the women’s category, ruling out transgender athletes and the majority of those with differences in sexual development (DSD).
The IOC said the one-time gene-screening test would be conducted via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample, and would be “unintrusive compared to other possible methods”.
But experts have warned that universal sex testing for the SRY gene could cause “considerable harm to affected athletes” and is an “inaccurate test of both sex and athletic advantage”.
The IOC’s ruling followed an 18-month consultation, with the policy “based on science” and “led by medical experts with the best interests of athletes at its heart”. Coventry said: “The scientific evidence is very clear: male chromosomes give performance advantages in sports that rely on strength, power or endurance.”
The French Olympic Committee said on Thursday that it had “major ethical and scientific concerns for all those affected” and that the SRY tests would be illegal in France under the nation's strict bioethics law on genetic testing.
“A sex testing and blanket ban policy would be a catastrophic erosion of women’s rights and safety,” said Andrea Florence, the executive director of the Sport & Rights Alliance.
“Gender policing and exclusion harms all women and girls, and undermines the very dignity and fairness the IOC claims to uphold. Our concerns are compounded by the fact that the IOC also seems to be, at the same time, divesting from the safe sport infrastructure that actually provides protection for women and girls.”
The Sport & Rights Alliance, along with over 100 other allied organisations, called on the IOC to abandon its plans to mandate genetic sex testing and warned the policy “would constitute an astounding rollback on gender equality and set women’s sport back 30 years”.
Payoshni Mitra, executive director of Humans of Sport, said: “Requiring women and girls to undergo mandatory genetic screening just to participate in sport would revive a practice that – even if it’s a ‘one-time test’ – violates women’s and girls’ privacy, exposes them to extreme public scrutiny, humiliation, and opens a pathway to medically unnecessary interventions.
“People often forget that child athletes compete at the Olympics and international competitions – this policy would cause massive safeguarding risks by requiring young women and children’s bodies to be investigated and their intimate health information disclosed, potentially leading to permanent harm to their dignity, mental health, and safety.”
The IOC did not foresee a major problem with the legality issue. “Based on (International Federation) experience, genetic screening for sex does not create significant problems in practice," the policy document read. It is legal in most countries, and athletes from the countries where it is not permitted can lawfully be tested elsewhere.”
The new rules have no retroactive power and have no impact on grassroots or amateur sports.
Includes reporting from Reuters
Transgender women banned from female Olympic events in new IOC ruling
The Paralympics are welcoming Russia back to the Winter Games – and this is just the start
Inside the transformation of the most powerful office in sport
Ukrainian skeleton racer, banned from Olympics, speaks at United Nations
Transgender women banned from female Olympic events in new IOC ruling
