Far from resolved: Debate rages following World Athletics' ban on trans athletes in elite female sport

World Athletics says its decision this week to ban transgender women from competing in elite female sport is based on the "overarching need to protect the female category."

But the organization's president Sebastian Coe says the move to exclude trans athletes who have gone through male puberty is about more than that. Coe says the move is about fairness over inclusion, and comes after months of being "inundated" by stakeholders that no other alternative would be acceptable.

"We entered into a consultation some months ago because we wanted to provoke debate," Coe told a worldwide audience. "It was really important that we heard from all our stakeholders, including the athletes, the coaches and member federations.

"Female athletes, coaches, our member federations; they were absolutely clear that at this point there was absolutely no way that we should be including transgender athletes in elite competition in the female category," Coe said.

Few athletes have been willing to weigh in publicly on this issue, but some did on social media.

"A big step for fairness and protecting the female category. Hopefully this will be the rule across all levels now, not just elite ranking events," tweeted British runner and Olympian Emily Diamond, who won a 400-metre relay bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Olympian and marathon runner Mara Yamauchi tweeted: "Good news! Odd to celebrate something which is common sense."

Under previous rules, transgender women could compete in the female category as long as their testosterone levels were below five nanomoles per litre over a one-year period.

Critics and an emerging body of research suggest that beyond testosterone levels, male puberty triggers skeletal and cardiovascular advantages that can't be mitigated or reversed by suppressing testosterone.

"Athletes that have male biology moving into the female category are going to run the risk of damaging the integrity of that category and the integrity of competitions," Coe said.

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World Athletics is the second major sport to move away from the testosterone model. Swimming's world governing body, World Aquatics, voted last June to bar transgender women from elite competition if they had experienced any part of male puberty.

World Rugby has also adopted a similar policy.

Those who have long been pushing for a ban say the decision by World Athletics will have a far reaching impact across the sporting world.

"[World Athletics is] one of the top sport organizations in the world," says Linda Blade, president of the Board of Athletics Alberta. "It's considered to be this, the core sport of the Olympic Games, which is why it has huge sway.

"There's so many sports federations around the world who look to World Athletics as the guide for how to determine eligibility policy that's fair. Not only just have the policy but how do you enforce it."

'Inclusion and fairness don't always align'

Mathieu Gentès, CEO of Athletics Canada, told CBC that World Athletics did not consult the organization on this issue and added that this week's decision is a "lot stricter" than had been expected.

Gentès says Athletics Canada's current inclusion policy encourages grassroots participation at the local level in whatever category participants choose to identify without restrictions. But when it comes to events sanctioned by World Athletics, they will have to follow the new rules.

"Inclusion and fairness don't always align 100 per cent depending on what level of the sport you're looking at," Gentès told CBC. "We feel that it's important that people feel welcome in sport and have a place to participate but at the same time we feel that it's important that the integrity of the female competitive categories is also maintained."

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Chris Mosier is the founder of transathlete.com, an education resource on trans inclusion. He was also the first openly transgender male to ever compete in an Olympic trial against other men. He says the "incredibly disappointing" decision rejects the basic principles of inclusion, fairness and non discrimination.

Mosier says the policy will have a deep impact far away from Olympic competitions in crowded stadiums. He says when powerful bodies like World Athletics make decisions, there is an unseen trickle down effect.

"Given all of the messages that young transgender people are hearing about whether or not they belong and whether or not it's okay for them to be themselves, and whether or not they deserve the same opportunities as their peers to play the sports that they love and be accepted, it's really troubling," Mosier told CBC.

"It's not just the few elite athletes that are going to be negatively impacted here, it's the young kids who no longer can see themselves having an athletic career or pursuing their passions."

Beyond that, Mosier says the ban addresses an issue that barely exists at the elite levels of sport. There are currently no transgender athletes competing in elite international competitions.

"They have chosen to exclude a population of people sort of anticipating a problem as opposed to in response to any real issue within sport. Transgender women are underrepresented at every level of play. They even acknowledge there's not enough athletes for them to do research on." Mosier told CBC.

"By banning the athletes that they would need to participate in order to have research, they've essentially eliminated the possibility for transgender athletes to participate. We're seeing an organization make a policy that disproportionately impacts a very small group of people."

But Athletics Alberta's Linda Blade says it's not that simple.

"It's a problem even if one person is not getting an Olympic gold medal or one person is getting a different result in their race because of a clear violation of ethics.

"It's just like saying only one or two people are doping. That's not how sport is run. We either have an eligibility line or we don't."

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This debate is far from resolved. World Athletics will set up a working group that over the next 12 months will continue to explore the matter of transgender inclusion.

"We're not saying no forever," Coe said.

Athletes around the world will be watching closely.

"In terms of the research and studies that are out there, they've been adjusting it over the last couple of years and the line keeps moving," Gentès says.

"They keep saying it's based on science and the new research being done, and I expect in 12 months maybe it will change again."