Five sportspeople who redefined their gender

• Five sportspeople who redefined their gender.
• Male-to-female transgender athletes are not allowed to participate in women’s events.
• The decision is anticipated to have a big effect on sports all across the world.

Male-to-female transgender athletes are not allowed to participate in women’s events, according to a World Athletics ruling. The decision is anticipated to have a big effect on sports all across the world.

Five athletes who have previously participated in gender-related talks have spoken out in response to this development.

Caster Semenya: hyperandrogeny

Caster Semenya of South Africa, a double Olympic and triple world champion in the 800 meter race, sparked a flurry of inquiries regarding her hyperandrogenism, or elevated testosterone levels.

Following a contentious victory at the 2009 world championships when she was just 18 years old, the IAAF—formerly World Athletics—introduced for the first time rules allowing hyperandrogenic athletes to compete on the condition that their androgen levels are lower than those recorded for men.

However, in order for athletes to participate in international events ranging from the 400 meters to the mile in 2018, the IAAF mandated that they undergo six months of drug treatment to reduce their testosterone levels to less than 5 nanomoles per liter of blood.

In South Africa, the decision was misunderstood as a means of “slowing down” Semenya, who was unable to defend her 800-meter title at the 2019 Doha world championships. Semenya successfully challenged the decision in court.

She failed to qualify for the 200-meter final at the Tokyo Olympics and the 5000-meter final at the world championships in Eugene.

Laurel Hubbard: Olympic pioneer

In August 2021, in Tokyo, New Zealand weightlifter Shrub Hubbard, then 43 years of age, left a mark on the world by turning into the main straightforwardly transsexual lady to participate in an Olympic occasion.

In order for Hubbard to qualify for the Olympics, she had to keep her testosterone level below 10 nmol per liter for at least a year.

Although Hubbard’s participation met the requirements, it was widely criticized.

At the end of 2021, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave up on establishing uniform guidelines for intersex and transgender athletes’ participation requirements, leaving that to the respective international federations.

Emily Bridges: wheels in motion

Emily Bridges, a transgender cyclist who had previously competed at the elite level as Zach Bridges, was initially permitted to compete in the British National Omnium Championships last year after meeting the national cycling federation’s requirements.

However, Bridges, who is now 22 years old, was compelled to withdraw because she was ineligible, as stipulated by the International Cycling Union (UCI).

A week later, British Cycling made the decision to revoke its regulations regarding the competition participation of athletes who are transgender or non-binary. The policy was “still under review” in November.

Lia Thomas: making waves

USA Swimming made the decision to change its rules in February 2022, requiring transgender athletes who want to compete at the elite level to have testosterone levels less than 5 nmol/l for at least 36 months.

The controversies surrounding swimmer Lia Thomas’s performance at the university championship prompted the change. Detractors thought Thomas had a physiological advantage because he was born a man and started transitioning in 2019.

The University of Pennsylvania swimmer won the women’s 500-yard freestyle final just a month later. It was a memorable triumph, made conceivable by the refusal of the NCAA, which oversees school sports, not to apply the new USA organization rules.

The international swimming federation FINA made the announcement in June 2022 that it wanted to establish an open category for transgender athletes. However, it restricted swimmers who “became women before puberty” from competing in its women’s divisions.

Hannah Mouncey: Aussie rules

Hannah Mouncey made 22 appearances for Australia as a top-level men’s handball player. In 2015, Mouncey began her transition and shifted her focus to women’s Australian Rules Football.

However, Mouncey was disqualified from participating in the AFLW draft by the Australian Football League (AFL) in 2017.

Following that, the federation acknowledged that Mouncey, who is now 33 years old, “has taken part in a process that will contribute… to the development of policies and procedures with regard to transgender people.”

Mouncey played handball for one more season in 2018 before switching back to that sport and competing for the Australian women’s team.

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