World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said more than 95% of female athletes have completed mandatory gene testing ahead of the World Championships in Tokyo, with France and Norway set to finalise theirs in Japan.
The test, introduced in March and implemented for the first time at the World Championships which begin on Saturday, is designed to verify biological sex by detecting the presence of the SRY gene — or sex-determining region Y gene — on the Y chromosome.
“I have to say this has been a successful whole sport response to a principle that we all fundamentally believe in, which is to protect, preserve and promote the female category,” Coe said at a press briefing in Tokyo on Tuesday.
The testing process was not entirely smooth as Canadian athletes scrambled to retake tests after learning that the ones they initially underwent did not comply with the ruling body’s requirements.
French athletes, and athletes of other nationalities training in France, are undergoing theirs in Tokyo because the one-off tests are illegal in France.
Coe was asked whether World Athletics had received any complaints about athlete privacy at Tuesday’s media briefing, which capped the body’s three-day council meeting.
The gender test rule has impacted boxing, with French female athletes barred from the inaugural World Boxing Championships in Liverpool after failing to meet the testing deadline.
Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who won gold in the women’s welterweight division at the Paris Olympics last year, has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over World Boxing’s decision to bar her from future events unless she undergoes genetic sex testing.
World Boxing president Boris van der Vorst apologised after naming Khelif publicly in the announcement about mandatory testing, acknowledging that her privacy should have been respected.
“I’m actually comforted that thus far, we haven’t (had privacy complaints), and I think it’s because of the very nature and clarity around the testing and the processes,” Coe said.
“Our medical delegate is the only one that will see the test and if there is anything to be followed up on, they will follow it up directly with the athlete.
“You have all heard me talk about the sacrosanct nature of women’s sport and the preservation of that concept,” he added.
“We’ve had very little discussion about why we’re doing it, other than an absolute recognition that it is an important staging post in that commitment to women’s sport.
“The World Championships is a very, very good platform for us to understand more about what the future of this testing looks like.”
Growth was a topic of discussion during the council meetings, said Coe, who noted World Athletics’ revenues are up 38% since 2018.
There were several rules approved during the council meeting, including a fixed running order of man-woman-man-woman for the 4×100 metres mixed relay beginning with next year’s World Athletics Relays in Botswana. REUTERS
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