Female Track & Field Athletes To Be Forced To Take Gender Identity Tests Before World Athletics Championships

World Athletics, the governing body of track and field, has confirmed that athletes must pass the gene test to compete in women’s events before the global meet in September.

All athletes wishing to compete in the female category at the World Championships are required to undergo a one-time test for the SRY gene – a reliable indicator of biological sex.

This follows the controversy surrounding the gold medals won by Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which sparked global uproar.

During Khelif’s run to the final, she was embroiled in a bitter gender row, having been banned from International Boxing Association competition in 2023.

The IOC, which replaced the Russia-led IBA as the governing body for Olympic boxing, was warned about the tests and urged to remove Khelif from the competition.

The new regulations take effect on September 1, 2025, and will be applied to the Athletics Championships in Tokyo, which begin on September 13.

The test is non-invasive, available in either a DNA cheek swab or blood test form, whichever is more convenient.

Lord Sebastian Coe, the President of World Athletics, says the organization is determined to “protect and [promote the] integrity of women’s sports.”

“We are saying, at the elite level, for you to compete in the female category, you have to be biologically female,” he added. “It was always very clear to me and the World Athletics Council that gender cannot trump biology.”

The new regulations follow the recommendations from the Gender Diverse Athlete Working Group approved by the Council in March 2025.

In February, a World Athletics working group on gender-diverse athletes stated that the required test will be for the SRY gene – and, if necessary, testosterone levels – either via a cheek swab with any follow-up needed or via dry blood spot analysis.

The test will look for the SRY gene, which is located on the Y chromosome and is responsible for the development of male characteristics.

Coe, 68, is set to stand down as head of World Athletics when his third and final tenure ends in 2027.

When previously asked if he was prepared for any criticism over perceived intrusiveness, he replied: “No. Neither of these are invasive.”

“They are necessary and they will be done to international medical standards,” Coe said. “This has been a widely-held and pretty exhaustive review, and overwhelmingly the view has come back that this is absolutely the way to go within caveats.”