Kirsty Coventry, the new president of the International Olympic Committee, says that its members have shown “overwhelming support” to the protection of the female category in sport.
In a considerable policy shift, she said that the IOC “must play a leading role” in discussions about being eligible for gender.
During her first press conference since the role had taken over the role earlier this week, the Zimbabwan unveiled a working group about the issue consisting of experts and international federations would “ensure that we find consensus”.
The IOC previously left the sex regulations to the administrative bodies of individual sports instead of applying a universal approach.
But after being the first wife to hold the IOC presidency, the 41-year-old Coventry said that members now wanted to develop a policy “to come together”.
Coventry, however, also hinted that no retrospective action would be taken about the controversial boxing tournament at the Paris Olympic Games of last year, when dealing with gender rules came by the IOC under intensive research.
After a first meeting of her administrative council, Coventry added: “We understand that there will be differences, depending on the sport … But it was very clear from the members that we should protect the female category, primarily to guarantee honesty.
“But we have to do that with a scientific approach and the recording of the international federations that have already done a lot of work in this area.”
During her election campaign, former swimmer Coventry – a sevenfold Olympic medal winner – promised to introduce a general ban on transgender women who participated in the female Olympic competition.
In recent years, a growing number of sports federations have undergone athletes who have undergone male puberty that have been participated in the competition of Elite Female Competition, in the midst of concern about fairness and safety.
In other sports, however, transgender women can still compete in women’s events at the Olympic Games.
The IOC was flooded in controversy last summer during the Paris competitions when Imane Khelif van Algeria won the women’s welterweight boxing gold medal – one year after he was disqualified from the world championships for the expiry of a gender -intended test.
The IOC knew the 25-year-old to compete with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting-Die was also forbidden by the suspended International Boxing Association (IBA). The IOC said that competitors were eligible for the women’s division when their passports said they were female.
Both hunters are sure that they are women, have always participated in the women’s division and there is no suggestion that they are transgender.
Some reports took the IBA stating that Khelif XY chromosomes has to speculate that the hunter can have differences in sexual development (DSD), such as Runner Caster Semenya. However, the BBC was unable to confirm whether or not this is the case.
Last year, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) reports that the Khelif of the Gold Medal of Paris had stripped for the failure of gender -close tests were “clearly false”.
When asked if her working group could apply a retrospective action, Coventry said: “We are not going to do anything afterwards. We are going to look ahead. Of the members [it] Was “what do we learn from the past, and how are we going to use it and that move forward to the future?” “
Earlier this month, World Boxing said that mandatory sex tests would be introduced in July “to guarantee the safety of all participants and to deliver a competitive level of playing field for men and women.” It follows World Athletics that has also approved the introduction of a cotton swab to determine whether an athlete is biologically feminine.
When asked whether she has approved such a policy, and whether the IOC could also assume it, Coventry said: “It is too early to answer the medical experts.
“It was very clear from membership that the discussion around it must be done with medical and scientific research in the core, so we look at the facts and the nuances and the recording of the international federations that have done so much of this work … Have a seat at the table and share with us because every sport is different.
“But it was almost unanimously felt that the IOC had to play a leading role to bring everyone together to find a broad consensus.”
In response, World Athletics President Lord Coe – a rival of Coventry at the IOC presidential elections earlier this year – posted on social media: “Support this strong position completely, it is essential for the future of women’s sport.
“World Athletics has offered its advice and experience based on more than 15 years of detailed science, research and actions in protecting female sport.”
In February the president of the International Paralympic Committee BBC Sport said that he is against “general solutions” for transgender participation policy.
Andrew Parsons spoke after President Donald Trump of the United States had signed an executive order that transgender is preventing women from participating in female sports categories. He said he would deny Visa to transgender athletes who wanted to compete in female categories at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028.
Coventry said that the IOC was also planning to set up a second working group that looks at when Olympic guest cities should be called.
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