Kirsty Coventry, the brand new president of the Worldwide Olympic Committee, says its members have proven “overwhelming assist” to defending the feminine class in sport.
In a big shift in coverage, she mentioned the IOC should “play a number one position” in discussions on gender eligibility.
At her first information convention since taking on the position earlier this week, the Zimbabwean revealed a working group on the problem made up of specialists and worldwide federations would “be certain that we discover consensus”.
The IOC has beforehand left gender rules to the governing our bodies of particular person sports activities relatively than making use of a common method.
However having turn into the primary lady to carry the IOC presidency, 41 year-old Coventry mentioned its members now needed to develop a coverage “to provide you with cohesion”.
Nevertheless, Coventry additionally hinted that no retrospective motion could be taken over the controversial boxing match finally yr’s Paris Olympics, when the IOC’s dealing with of gender guidelines got here below intense scrutiny.
Following a primary assembly of her govt board, Coventry added, “We perceive that there will be variations relying on the game… nevertheless it was very clear from the members that we now have to guard the feminine class, initially to make sure equity.
“However we have to do this with a scientific method and the inclusion of the worldwide federations who’ve already executed quite a lot of work on this space.”
Throughout her election marketing campaign, former swimmer Coventry – a seven-time Olympic medalist – pledged to introduce a blanket ban on transgender girls competing in feminine Olympic competitors.
In recent times a rising variety of sports activities federations have barred athletes who’ve undergone male puberty from competing in elite feminine competitors amid considerations over equity and security.
Nevertheless, in different sports activities, transgender girls are nonetheless in a position to compete in girls’s occasions on the Olympics.
The IOC was engulfed in controversy on the Paris Video games final summer season when Algeria’s Imane Khelif received the ladies’s welterweight boxing gold medal – a yr after being disqualified from the World Championships for reportedly failing a gender eligibility check.
The IOC cleared the 25-year-old to compete – together with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting – who was additionally banned by the suspended Worldwide Boxing Affiliation (IBA). The IOC mentioned opponents had been eligible for the ladies’s division if their passports mentioned they had been feminine.
Each fighters insist they’re girls, have at all times competed within the girls’s division, and there’s no suggestion they’re transgender.
Some experiences took the IBA stating that Khelif has XY chromosomes to invest that the fighter may need variations of sexual growth (DSD), like runner Caster Semenya. Nevertheless, the BBC has not been in a position to verify whether or not that is or will not be the case.
Final yr, the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) mentioned experiences it had stripped Khelif of the Paris gold medal for failing gender eligibility exams had been “clearly false”.
When requested if her working group may apply any retrospective motion, Coventry mentioned, “We’re not going to be doing something retrospectively. We’ll be trying ahead. From the members [it] was ‘what are we studying from the previous, and the way are we going to leverage that and transfer that ahead to the long run?'”
Earlier this month, World Boxing mentioned necessary intercourse testing could be launched in July “to make sure the protection of all individuals and ship a aggressive stage taking part in area for women and men.” It follows World Athletics which has additionally authorized the introduction of a swab check to find out if an athlete is biologically feminine.
When requested if she endorsed such a coverage, and if the IOC may additionally undertake it, Coventry mentioned, “It is too early to pre-empt the medical specialists.
“It was very clear from the membership the dialogue round this needs to be executed with medical and scientific analysis on the core, so we’re trying on the info and the nuances and the inclusion of the worldwide federations which have executed a lot of this work…having a seat at desk and sharing with us as a result of each sport is completely different.
“Nevertheless it was just about unanimously felt that the IOC ought to take a number one position in bringing everybody collectively to try to discover a broad consensus.”
In response, World Athletics president Lord Coe – a rival of Coventry within the IOC presidential election earlier this yr – posted on social media: “Totally assist this sturdy place, it’s important for the way forward for girls’s sport.
“World Athletics has provided its recommendation and expertise based mostly on over 15 years of detailed science, analysis and actions in defending feminine sport.”
In February, the president of the Worldwide Paralympic Committee advised BBC Sport that he’s against “blanket options” for transgender participation insurance policies.
Andrew Parsons was talking after United States president Donald Trump signed an govt order that stops transgender girls from competing in feminine classes of sports activities. He mentioned he would deny visas to transgender athletes looking for to compete in feminine classes on the Los Angeles Olympic Video games in 2028.
Coventry mentioned the IOC additionally deliberate to arrange a second working group taking a look at when Olympic host cities ought to be named.
