Return of gender testing, first shock for Kirsty Coventry at the IOC

AFP

La Jornada Newspaper, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, p. a12

Lausanne. Abandoned at the Olympic Games after 1996, gender testing is returning to global sport, prompting the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its new president to address this politically charged and scientifically complex issue.

We will protect the women's category , Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry promised when she was elected last March.

The two-time Olympic swimming champion pledged to launch a working group to reach a joint decision on the conditions for access to women's competitions.

But will Coventry have the time to conduct these consultations?

The world athletics and boxing federations, World Athletics and World Boxing, have just announced the adoption of chromosome testing, something that the World Aquatics swimming federation had already planned for 2023.

According to these organizations, the goal is to condition access to the female category on the absence of the SRY gene , located on the Y chromosome and an indicator of masculinity, through a PCR test.

During the United Nations General Assembly last October, Jordanian Reem Alsalem, special investigator on violence against women and girls, defended the introduction of such tests in sports, describing them as reliable and non-invasive .

In theory, chromosomal analysis radically simplifies access to women's competitions, something that has been the subject of various regulations and scientific and ethical debates for decades.

The idea is to admit XX athletes – according to the term used by World Athletics – while excluding transgender women and those who have always been considered female but have XY chromosomes, one of the forms of differences of sexual development (DSD) or intersexuality.

▲ Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif is one of the most recent examples of athletes facing intense campaigning about their gender. Photo @imane_Khelif_10

Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif, who was the target of intense gender-based campaigning during the Paris Games, has been explicitly warned by World Boxing to undergo testing.

Registered for the Dutch tournament in Eindhoven in early June, Khelif ultimately did not participate. Born and raised as a girl, the young Algerian was accused by the former governing federation of Olympic boxing, the IBA, of having XY chromosomes.

Chromosomal testing, already in effect at the Olympic Games between 1968 and 1996, has nevertheless generated numerous criticisms, particularly from the World Medical Association, human rights organizations and the scientific community.

Lack of evidence

The first problem lies in the lack of studies demonstrating that a gender transition offers a disproportionate advantage over an XX opponent, which is the criterion suggested in 2021 by the IOC.

It is possible to have XY chromosomes and be totally or partially insensitive to testosterone , like the Spanish hurdler María José Martínez Patiño, who was unable to participate in the 1988 Olympic Games and was the first to successfully challenge femininity tests.

Aware of these limits, World Boxing and World Athletics mention complementary stages after an SRY test: hormonal profile , anatomical examination and additional diagnosis at the discretion of the athlete .

Legally, the sports world is still awaiting the final decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of intersex athlete Caster Semenya, the Olympic 800m champion barred from competition by World Athletics: in the first instance, the ECHR sided with the South African.

▲ Mexican multi-diver Diego Villalobos celebrates the inclusion of men in the Olympic program in a discipline that until a few years ago was reserved only for women. Photo: AFP

Adriana Díaz Reyes

La Jornada Newspaper, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, p. a12

For decades, artistic swimming was synonymous with femininity, elegance, and aesthetic appeal in the water. A sport reserved exclusively for women at the Olympic Games, with little or no male presence in schools and federations around the world.

But, as with all sporting developments, barriers began to break down when someone decided to swim against the tide.

"It's been a difficult road to travel, but we've made progress. We still don't have the necessary exposure, but including men in the Olympic program is a very important step ," commented Mexican multi-medalist Diego Villalobos.

In 2024, barely twenty swimmers were practicing the sport competitively in our country. Today, the number has grown, with Joel Benavides and Villalobos being the pioneers.

Yes, there are children who practice artistic swimming, but they're young. Sometimes I think people think it's just Joel, who just retired, and me, but we have athletes who have been following our path. It's great to have more people interested in swimming like us , shared the 20-year-old competitor.

A couple of months ago, Villalobos joined the national team. Since then, he has climbed the podium in international competitions such as the World Cup.

I'm going to work hard to keep the spot many girls would like. I try to contribute and learn. I've already fit in with the team because I've known them for a long time. We believe the judges rate stunts with male participants more highly, so we want to implement that strategy.

A long struggle

In December 2014, the then International Swimming Federation (FINA) announced that it would accept the mixed duet as an official event in artistic swimming, after a long struggle by swimmers such as Bill May and Benoit Beaufils, who made their World Championship debut in the specialty at the age of 36,

Men's inclusion was once considered an impossible dream , said American May, the world's first champion in the inaugural mixed duet technical event at the 2015 World Championships.

In 2022, Benavides became the first Mexican swimmer, along with Trinidad Meza, to compete in a world competition. Despite the machista culture and gender stereotypes oriented toward men who swim, Joel and Amaya Velázquez, a Mexican swimmer, became the first Mexican pair to win a medal in the mixed duet at the Pan American Championships in Aruba, months later.

Following his successful participation in the World Cups, Villalobos will focus on his participation in the World Cup in Singapore and later in the Junior Pan American Games in Asunción.

Many would think it's easy for me to compete with juniors, but no, there's a very strong rival in Chile, so I don't have to be overconfident.

▲ Canada advanced to the Gold Cup quarterfinals as Group B leaders, beating El Salvador 2-0 yesterday thanks to goals from Jonathan David (right) and Tajon Buchanan. Honduras finished second in the group after defeating Curaçao 2-1. In the next round, the Maple Leafs will face Guatemala, and Reinaldo Rueda's team will face Panama. Photo @Canmnt Official

La Jornada Newspaper, Wednesday, June 25, 2025, p. a30