Nanjing, China – World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said Tuesday that the Athletics Governing Body has approved the introduction of female athletes’ cheek swabs and dry vascular tests to maintain “competition integrity.”
Planned changes include the revival of a version of chromosome testing that was discontinued in the 1990s. Athletes competing in the female category should submit a cheek swab or dry blood spot test due to the presence of a gene that indicates whether the athlete has a “Y” chromosome in men.
Coe told a news conference that athletes need to take the test only once in their careers.
“It’s important to do that, especially recently, not just about the integrity of women’s sports, but actually ensuring it,” Koh said after a two-day meeting of the World Athletics Council in Nanjing. “I feel this is a truly important way to provide confidence and maintain an absolute focus on competitive integrity.”
It is unclear whether the test will be held before the World Championships in September. Coe said new regulations will be drafted and testing providers will be confirmed over the coming weeks.
Coe, a two-time Olympic champion who failed last week to become the president of the IOC, is speaking out about “protecting women’s categories” in track and field. He says the International Olympic Committee needs to play a leadership role in the transgender debate rather than letting individual sports decide on their own regulations.
World Athletics, which transitioned men to women in 2023 and banned transgender athletes who experienced male adolescents, proposed a recommendation in February to apply strict transgender rules to female-born athletes, but to athletes who describe them as testosterone levels naturally occurring within the typical male range.
These recommendations came just days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports in the United States, putting pressure on the Olympics to do the same. Los Angeles will be holding the Summer 2028 game.
Legal issues
Asked whether global athletics feels that policy can withstand legal challenges, Koh said he is confident after a thorough review.
“We would never have gone this path between 2016 and 2017 to protect the women’s category of sports,” Koh said.
He added: “We have been to the Court of Arbitration on DSD (Differences in Sexual Development) Regulation, and they were upheld and again after appeal.
