Athlete banned from 400m tells of hurt over ‘misleading’ study
A female athlete banned from challenging for a 400metres medal at the Tokyo Olympics due to controversial testosterone regulations has described her “hurt” after World Athletics scientists admitted the findings that helped trigger the rules “could have been misleading”.
Aminatou Seyni, of Niger, ran a national record 49.19sec in 2019 only to be told she had naturally high levels of testosterone as an athlete with Differences of Sexual Development and was banned from competing internationally over 400m unless she lowered her hormone level.
That time would have been good enough for Olympic silver earlier this month, but Seyni instead only managed to reach the semi-finals of the 200m – a distance not covered by the regulations.
The British Journal of Sports Medicine this week released a “correction” to the 2017 paper that helped underpin the rules, in which World Athletics scientists admitted their findings were “on a lower level of evidence” and should be viewed as “exploratory, nothing else, that is, not confirmatory or evidence for a causal relationship” between testosterone and improved performance.
DSD athletes looking to compete in affected events can lower their testosterone levels by taking a daily oral contraceptive pill, monthly injections or having their testes surgically removed.
“When I found out the study that was used as a basis to force women like us to take medical measures to compete was misleading, I felt hurt, although I was happy that I did not cave to the pressure of having a medical procedure,” Seyni, 24, said.
“But there might be people who have – and what about them? If there is no proof that an advantage can be obtained with a higher level of hormones, then why were we stopped from competing?”
A World Athletics spokeswoman said: “The erratum recently published in the British Journal of Sport Medicine to the 2017 paper clarifies the exploratory nature of this study.
“This clarification, made in 2018, along with the decade of research undertaken by World Athletics that informed its eligibility regulations, and evidence from over 30 experts, was heard and debated at a five-day independent CAS [Court of Arbitration for Sport] hearing in 2019. This resulted in a 165-page award explaining why the regulations were supported by scientific research and evidence [and the 2017 paper was only one element of that evidence].
“Since the award was published in April 2019 there has been more scientific research published that strengthens the conclusion that increasing testosterone in females to above the normal female range improves sport performance.
“We urge any athlete to whom these rules apply, and who may have been misled by comments that cast doubt on their validity in recent days, to contact World Athletics’ health and science team.”