Trans athletes have ‘unfair advantage’
New Zealand researchers say trans athletes have an ‘‘unfair’’ advantage over other women and sport needs to fix binary gender categories.
The advantages trans athletes have over female competitors were considerably large and sport needed to look hard at fairness, along with their inclusion policies, Otago University Associate Professor of Physiology Lynley Anderson said.
The issue has been in the sporting spotlight in New Zealand since transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard qualified to compete in the women’s category at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Hubbard won the Pacific Games title last week.
Male to female trans athletes have been allowed to compete in women’s divisions since 2015 provided their testosterone level does not exceed 10nmol/L.
However, the average amount of testosterone for a cis female (born female) ranges from .870nmol/L. to 1.7nmol/L – nearly 10 times less than that limit.
In a paper published in the BMJ Journal of Medical Ethics, Anderson and two Otago colleagues found the 10nmol/L level permitted by the International Olympic Committee was ‘‘significantly higher than that of cis-gender women, whose sex and gender align as female’’.
Otago University Professor of Physiology Alison Heather says the rule book needs to change.
‘‘It is 10 to 20 times higher than a cis female, so this is one of my major concerns.
‘‘At the moment we are really targeting inclusiveness for our trans females to compete in a female division and in that aspect we are not considering a fairness issue for cis females.’’
The New Zealand Olympic Committee stands by its policy around transgender athletes, but welcomes the research.
‘‘The issue of transgender athletes in elite sport is extremely complicated as it requires a balance to be struck between protecting an individual’s human rights and ensuring the field of play remains fair,’’ a spokesperson told Stuff.
‘‘NZOC will continue to work with and support all New Zealand team members who are eligible to compete under international rules.’’
Heather said the advantages go well beyond a testosterone level test.
A trans athlete has prior exposure to testosterone, which develops larger muscle mass, muscle distribution and even the amount of oxygen the athlete can accumulate.
‘‘All these factors are not considered. We just say your testosterone level is under 10mnol/L. It is still much higher than a cis female and none of the rest is being considered.
‘‘It’s not just your here and now testosterone that matters, there is also prior exposure to testosterone. Testosterone even form a fetus is defining a males brain, a male’s bone structure and lung structure.
‘‘They have a different bone structure so they are able to put more power in their jumping and anything that involves having to lift something, they have more power in their legs through their knees to hip ratio.’’
A woman’s child bearing hips also means her elbows are at a wider angle than a trans athlete’s, putting them at a disadvantage as the smaller angle achieves more power.
Heather said there was ‘‘actually science behind’’ the ‘‘you throw like a girl’’ comment.
‘‘The wider angle means we can’t throw as forcefully or as far, on average.
‘‘On average, females have a disadvantage.’’
The disadvantage for cis females was mainly in endurance and strength sports.
The researchers concluded sport needed to review its inclusive policies alongside its fairness policies. They argued while trans athletes should absolutely be able to compete at top level sport, it should not be at the unfair disadvantage to a cis female athlete.
The researchers said the ethical issue amounted to whether the advantage held by trans women was a tolerable or intolerable unfairness.
‘‘We conclude that the advantage to trans women afforded by the IOC guidelines is an intolerable unfairness,’’ they stated in their research paper.
‘‘This does not mean trans women should be excluded from elite sport but that the existing male/female categories in sport should be abandoned in favour of a more nuanced approach satisfying both inclusion and fairness.’’
They did not know the solution as yet, but thought some sort of handicap or overhaul of sport’s categories would be a start.
Potential solutions include excluding trans women from competing in the women’s division, creating a third division for trans women and intersex women and calculating a handicap for trans women based on their testosterone levels – similar to that used in golf.
Their preferred option is an extension of this with a proposed algorithm that could account for a range of parameters, both physical and social, including physiological parameters, gender identity and could include socioeconomic status.
Darren Clarke was a teenager working at a bar in his hometown of Dungannon when the call came in.
The message was simple: Get out or get killed.
It was a few days before Christmas in 1986 and Northern Ireland was at war with itself – and by proxy, the government in London. ‘‘The Troubles,’’ as they are euphemistically known here, were raging and no-one knew who the next target would be.
Clarke and his fellow workers took heed and got out.
‘‘The bomb scare at 8.30, everybody out, bomb went off at 9.00,’’ Clarke said, ‘‘and the place was flattened’’.
Clarke recalled the close escape this week amid preparations for a home British Open he thought he would never see. The Open is back in Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years, and Clarke will step up to the first tee tonight (NZ time) and hit the first shot.
As with anyone who grew up around here during the time, though, The Troubles are never far from his mind.
‘‘That was life in Northern Ireland. Bombs were going off quite frequently,’’ Clarke said.
‘‘And a lot of people, unfortunately, paid a heavy penalty for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.’’
The Troubles that killed more than 3700 people have largely ended, thanks to the Good Friday peace agreement in 1998. Still, tensions between unionists, mostly Protestant, and Roman Catholic supporters of a united Ireland still simmer beneath the surface and there are occasional incidents like the shooting death earlier this year of journalist Lyra McKee during rioting in Londonderry.
But with prodding from Clarke – the 2011 Open champion – and some others, the R&A felt comfortable enough to bring the tournament back to Royal Portrush, where it was last held in 1951 – the only time it had ever been played in Northern Ireland.
And with more than 200,000 fans expected to flood the course before play ends on Monday (NZ time), the focus for both them and Clarke is now on golf.
‘‘It goes without saying, it’s a
huge thing to have it back here in Northern Ireland again,’’ Clarke said.
‘‘It’s going to be an amazing tournament. The atmosphere is going to be sensational.’’
Indeed, the atmosphere might already be ahead of projections, with fans streaming out of the nearby train station to get a glimpse of their favourite players in Tuesday’s practice round. In between they could look at the spectacular vistas that spread for miles from the links course perched on a cliff overlooking the sea.
It’s a bucolic setting that belies the violence that is mostly past. And it’s an important way to spread the idea that Northern Ireland is not only the home of major champions like Clarke, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, but some of the best