The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is likely to introduce a new policy on trans athletes after its director of health, medicine, and science, Dr. Jane Thornton, gave a “science-based review” to its members showing permanent physical advantages to being born male. Thornton, a former Canadian rower, has referenced the use of SRY cheek-swab gene test to determine the biological sex of athletes by some sports bodies, such as World Athletics. The new policy is also likely to cover athletes with DSD (Differences of Sex Development) who were raised as girls from birth but have male chromosomes and male levels of testosterone.
To date, there have been a few scientific studies looking at transgender athletes but they have been limited and inconclusive. A study, published in the British Journal of Sport Medicine in 2024, comparing transgender male and female athletes to their cisgender counterparts was inconclusive and with researchers pointing out potential complexity of transgender athlete physiology and calling for more long-term longitudinal studies.
