World swimming governing body, Fina, has voted to stop transgender athletes from competing in women’s elite races if they have gone through any part of the process of male puberty.
The decision was made during an extraordinary general congress at the ongoing World Championships in Budapest.
Fina will also aim to establish an “open” category at competitions for swimmers whose gender identity is different than their birth sex.
Fina president Husain Al-Musallam said the organization was trying to “protect the rights of our athletes to compete” but also “protect competitive fairness”.
He said: “Fina will always welcome every athlete. The creation of an open category will mean that everybody has the opportunity to compete at an elite level. This has not been done before, so Fina will need to lead the way. I want all athletes to feel included in being able to develop ideas during this process.”
The new policy, which was passed with 71% of the vote from 152 Fina members, was described as “only a first step towards full inclusion” for transgender athletes.
The 24-page policy document says that male-to-female transgender athletes could compete in the women’s category – but only “provided they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 [which marks the start of physical development], or before age 12, whichever is later”.
BBC/Maxwell Oyekunle
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