World Athletics introduces gene test to determine eligibility for women’s category

The international governing body for track and field is taking steps to ensure competitors in its elite women’s events are women. 

World Athletics will now require athletes to take a one-time genetic test to compete in the women’s category at world-ranking events, in a move the governing body says will protect fairness in elite competition, the Guardian reports.

The test will screen for the SRY gene, which indicates the presence of a Y chromosome, which women don’t have.

The test can be done via cheek swab or blood sample. Member federations will oversee the testing, which goes into effect Sept. 1, ahead of this year’s world championships in Tokyo.

“It is really important in a sport that is permanently trying to attract more women that they enter a sport believing there is no biological glass ceiling,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said.

“The test to confirm biological sex is a very important step in ensuring this is the case. We are saying, at elite level, for you to compete in the female category, you have to be biologically female.

“It was always very clear to me and the World Athletics Council that gender cannot trump biology. We particularly want to thank our member federations for their support and commitment in the implementation of these new regulations.”

The policy follows years of debate over how to define eligibility for women’s athletics.

World Athletics currently bars transgender-identifying males who have gone through male puberty from competing in the women’s division. It also requires athletes with congenital Differences of Sex Development (DSDs) who have high natural testosterone to reduce those levels to compete.

A working group determined earlier this year that those regulations didn’t go far enough. The SRY gene test was among the group’s key recommendations.

The move aligns World Athletics with World Boxing, which in May announced it would implement mandatory sex testing for all competitors.

It also comes as more athletic bodies in the United States have barred males from competing in women’s sports.

USA Volleyball and USA Fencing announced last month they would not allow males to compete in women’s sports. It also came after the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced it would comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order meant to prevent transgender-identifying males from competing in women’s sports.

Additionally, over 30 states prohibit males from competing in women’s sports. Since Trump signed his EO, several states – including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada and Nebraska – have barred transgender males from competing against women. The NCAA, the largest college sports governing body in America, also followed suit.

A January 2025 New York Times poll found 79% of Americans oppose male athletes competing in girls’ sports; just 18% of Americans support it.