Breaking down the hormone rule and how it’s kept some Olympic stars off the track.
Some of track and field’s finest athletes have been sidelined from certain events at this Olympics, thanks to a controversial new rule regulating the testosterone levels of competitors. Here’s a look at how the policy has impacted athletes, why it was implemented, and how the track world has responded.
What is the testosterone policy and why was it created?
World Athletics in 2018 announced that it would ban any woman, who naturally produces elevated levels of testosterone from competing in races ranging from 400 meters to a mile. Those with the rare genetic condition, known as 46, XY DSD (disorder of sexual development), have an X and Y chromosome in each cell (typically seen in men); genitalia that’s typically not male or female; and testosterone in the male range, per The New York Times.
Those affected are only allowed to compete if they lower their testosterone levels using contraceptives like birth control pills.
World Athletics’ President Sebastian Coe has said that testosterone, whether naturally produced or artificially inserted, can give female athletes an edge and that the policy was enacted simply to level the playing field.
The new policy lowered a standard set in 2011, from 10 nanomoles of testosterone per liter of blood down to 5. (According to World Athletics, most elite female athletes have 0.12 to 1.79 nanomoles, while men range from 7.7 to 29.4 nanomoles.)
At the time, some saw it as an attempt to keep South African runner Caster Semenya off the track. Semenya has won two gold medals in the 800 meters and has naturally high testosterone due to a DSD.
How has the testosterone policy affected competition at the Tokyo Olympics?
Semenya had altered her hormone levels from 2009 to 2015 and experienced adverse side effects. She has refused to lower her testosterone levels to compete in Tokyo and, as a result, was not present to defend her 800-meter title.
The rule also barred Namibian runners Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi from events this year. The teens have been dominating the 400 meters, but, because of the policy, changed gears and ran in the 200 meters instead. Mboma won silver in the event and Masilingi placed sixth.
Will this challenge the testosterone policy for future Olympic games?
Mboma’s second-place finish could force World Athletics to reconsider its policy and possibly reevaluate its stance on the 200 meters. The governing body has said there’s evidence indicating that athletes with DSD have a significant advantage in events ranging from 400 meters to a mile, but not longer or shorter races.
Critics say this week’s race throws that into question.
“It shows this is not an evidence-based regulation,” Roger Pielke Jr., a professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado told the NYT. “It’s about World Athletics’ perception as to who is properly a woman and who is not.”
