World Athletics confirmed during its latest council meeting that 95% of the female athletes due to compete at the World Championships, which begin on Saturday in the Japanese capital, have completed the mandatory genetic test, a measure the organization is reintroducing at its events.
Bermuda’s Caitlyn Bobb is in Tokyo to compete in the Women’s 400m.
The announcement marked a milestone for the international federation, which in March formally approved the introduction of the SRY test as part of new regulations aimed at verifying athletes' biological sex in the context of women's competitions. At the end of July, World Athletics published the technical details of the procedure and made it known that compliance would be an indispensable requirement to compete in Tokyo. The September World Championships will thus be the first major global event under this regulatory framework.
In its report, the council specified that only the tests for the delegations from France and Norway remain to be completed, as well as for some athletes residing on French territory, where national legislation prohibits genetic analyses for non‑medical purposes. In these cases, the tests will be carried out in the Japanese capital itself before the start of the championships.
"This has been a whole sport response to a principle that we all fundamentally believe in, which is to protect the female category," said in Tokyo World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who thanked the member federations for their cooperation in implementing the system. For the British official, this is a collective and necessary step to guarantee the integrity of the women's category.
To carry out the test, a buccal swab or a dried blood sample is required to detect the presence or absence of the SRY gene (Sex‑determining Region Y), which triggers male sexual development. In the federation's words about the genetic procedure, "The SRY test is extremely accurate and the risk of false negative or positive is extremely unlikely."
World Athletics also recalled that results may be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The regulations also provide for penalties, namely that any athlete who refuses to undergo the test will be excluded from international competitions that count towards the world rankings, although they will have the option of taking part in alternative non‑official events.
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