GENDER MAZE

Sex testing has been deeply contentious and has shifted contours over the years. A history:

1932

Polish sprinter Stalislawa Walasiewicz wins the women's 100 metres at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. She is shot dead in a robbery attempt in 1980. An autopsy shows she possesses male genitalia.

1946

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) introduces a rule that says woman athletes will need to carry medical certificates that will certify that the athletes are biologically women.

1966

The IAAF introduces on-site sex testing that says women will have to be paraded naked for their private parts to be inspected by a panel of three doctors.

Sisters Tamara and Irina Press, who win five track and field Olympic gold medals for the Soviet Union, abruptly retire when gender testing is introduced.

1967

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) adopts the Barr body test – cheek swabs taken from athletes are tested for chromosomal set-up: XX is women, XY, men.

1985

Spanish hurdler Maria Martinez Patino fails the Barr body test and is asked to retire.

In 1988 IAAF drops chromosome testing after a number of false positives. Patino is reinstated.

1996

Eight women fail the test at the Atlanta Olympics, but are declared eligible to compete as women only after further tests.

1999

The IOC drops mandatory sex tests, but reserves the right to test if “suspicions are aroused”

2006

Santhi Soundarajan fails the gender test after the 2006 Asian Games. She loses her silver medal. She is left with no option but to return to work in a brick kiln for a living.

2009

Caster Semenya is tested without her knowledge before she participates, and wins the 800m race at the 2009 IAAF World Championships. Caster Semenya fails the test. The South African government fights the verdict and calls the test racist.

2011

IAAF and IOC introduce the hyperandrogenism rule, which stipulates quitting or medical intervention if testosterone levels are deemed high, giving athletes an unfair advantage over others.

2014

Chand challenges the hyperandrogenism rule at the Centre for Arbitration of Sport. The Centre suspends the rule for two years and asks the IAAF to prove a causal link between higher testosterone level and performance on track.