WORLD ATHLETICS ELIGIBILITY REGULATIONS FOR TRANSGENDER ATHLETES
(Effective as from 1 October 2019)
The following document is to draw to the attention of all Masters athletes the new regulations regarding transgender athletes and the requirements and procedures for competing and recording records.
WMA have agreed to abide by the regulations relating to transgender athletes as set out by WA.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TRANSGENDER ATHLETE TO INFORM WMA AND WA OF THEIR INTENTION TO COMPETE IN ATHLETICS COMPETITIONS
Transgender athletes will have to provide evidence of required hormonal levels over a period of time prior to competition and to apply for any TUE needed before competing. It is therefore important that athletes apply as early as possible.
All applications and queries should be directed to the WA: the links are shown below.
Please note that WMA is in accordance with WA,, in that, ‘all medical information and data relating to an athlete will be treated as sensitive personal information and the Medical Manager will ensure at all times that it is processed as such in accordance with applicable data protection and privacy laws’.
The details that follow here are brief edited highlights of the full regulations.
These details are merely a guide to the regulations in a simplified form and SHOULD NOT be considered as authoritative.
Any interested athlete SHOULD READ the full regulations, which can be found via the link: Book of Rules | Official Documents (worldathletics.org)
The World Athletics Eligibility Regulations for Transgender Athletes (Transgender Regulations) came into effect on 1 October 2019 and replace the IAAF Regulations Governing Eligibility of Athletes who have undergone sex reassignment to compete in Women’s competition.
In the case of general queries regarding these Transgender Regulations, please contact:
Communications Department
World Athletics
6‐8, Quai Antoine 1er, BP 359, MC 98007 Monaco Cedex
Email: newsinfo@worldathletics.org
In the case of confidential queries regarding cases affected by these Transgender Regulations, please contact:
Medical Manager
Health and Science Department
World Athletics
6‐8, Quai Antoine 1er, BP 359, MC 98007 Monaco Cedex
Email: medical.confidential@worldathletics.org
Definition of Transgender
The term ‘Transgender’ is used in these Regulations to refer to individuals whose gender identity (i.e. how they identify) is different from the sex designated to them at birth, whether they are pre- or post-puberty, and whether or not they have undergone any form of medical intervention.
Participation is encouraged with conditions
World Athletics recognises that Transgender athletes may wish to compete in Athletics in accordance with their gender identity. World Athletics wishes to encourage and facilitate such participation, on conditions that go only so far as is necessary to protect the safety of all participants and to deliver on the promise of fair and meaningful competition offered by the division of the sport into male and female categories of competition.
Conditions of participation
A Transgender athlete who wishes to participate in an International Competition, or to be eligible to set a World Record in a competition that is not an International Competition, agrees, as a condition to such participation:
· To comply in full with these Regulations
· To cooperate promptly and in good faith with the Medical Manager and the Expert Panel in the discharge of their respective responsibilities under these Regulations, including providing them with all of the information and evidence they request to assess his/her compliance and/or monitor his/her continuing compliance with the eligibility conditions referred to in these Regulations;
Procedure for applying for eligibility: male transgender athletes
· A transgender male athlete must provide a written and signed declaration, in a form satisfactory to the Medical Manager, that his gender identity is male.
· As soon as reasonably practicable following receipt of such declaration, the Medical Manager will issue a written certification of that athlete’s eligibility to compete in the male category of competition in International Competition and to set a World Record in the male category in a competition that is not an International Competition.
Procedure for applying for eligibility: female transgender athletes
A transgender female athlete must meet the following to the satisfaction of an Expert Panel
· She must provide a written and signed declaration, in a form satisfactory to the Medical Manager, that her gender identity is female
· Along with this she must provide a comprehensive medical history
The Medical Manager will refer the file (in anonymised form) to the Expert Panel for assessment
· She must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Expert Panel (on the balance of probabilities) that the concentration of testosterone in her serum has been less than 5 nmol/L3 continuously for a period of at least 12 months
· Also, she must keep her serum testosterone concentration below 5 nmol/L for
so long as she wishes to maintain her eligibility to compete in the female category of competition.
If the Expert Panel decides that the Transgender Female Eligibility Conditions have been met, the Medical Manager will issue a written certification of that athlete’s eligibility to compete in the female category of competition in International Competition (and to set a World Record in the female category in a competition that is not an International Competition).
That eligibility will be subject in every case to the athlete’s continuing satisfaction of the Transgender Female Eligibility Conditions, including continuously maintaining her serum testosterone at a concentration of less than 5 nmol/L.
The following are NOT required:
· Legal recognition of the athlete’s gender identity as the athlete’s sex
· Surgical anatomical changes
Please note
Nothing in these Regulations permits, excuses or justifies non- compliance with any of those requirements, including any requirement for an athlete to obtain a Therapeutic Use Exemption for the use of substances on the WADA Prohibited List, such as testosterone, spironolactone, or GnRH agonists.
Appeals and checks and disciplinary procedures
The regulations give details of:
· How to make an appeal against a decision
· What checks will be in place
· Disciplinary procedures
Please refer to the regulations on the WA website for such details
