The Real Science of Sport Podcast12 Feb 2025

Spotlight: Protecting Women's Sport - Update on New Developments and Policies From Around the World

In this Spotlight, we address some noteworthy recent developments in the regulation and protection of women's sport. In the most significant of these, World Athletics have announced proposals, still in consultation, that would compel elite female participants to undergo a screening test that looks for the SRY gene as an eligibility requirement. Ross explains why this step, inevitable and necessary for women's sport to deliver on its purpose, may be the most important one taken by any sport in the last few years. We also discuss other proposals that strengthen World Athletics' protection of women's athletics, as well as an Executive Order on women's sport signed by Donald Trump, the NCAA response to that EO, and what this all means for this ongoing controversial issue.

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Links to topics and articles we discussed on the show

World Athletics page explaining the proposals and the consultation process that includes the pre-clearance (cheek swab) method
The full World Athletics document outlining proposed changes to eligibility
The academic article that a group of us wrote last year, explaining how screening should be implemented to support protection of the female category
Greg Brown's paper comparing boys to girls in running events
Same author, same approach, different sport - here's Greg Brown's analysis of boys and girls in swimming
Marina Hyde's article that describes how issues are bundled rather than assessed on their merits, to the detriment, sometimes, of reality
NCAA update on changes to their eligibility policy, where they take a step towards protecting women's sport, but fail to base it on biology
The Executive Order signed by Trump earlier this week
The larger Executive Order that helpfully defines sex, male and female with implications for policy

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