By JULIET MACUR
Three years after international sports officials drew widespread criticism over the handling of the case of a female athlete who was accused of being unfairly masculine, the International Olympic Committee has adopted new regulations for determining whether someone should not be allowed to compete as a woman if her gender is questioned under those rules.
In addressing one of the most vexing and personal issues in sports — how to draw a line between male and female, when human anatomy is often mixed — the organization decided to use testosterone levels as the determining factor.
The I.O.C. no longer deems its screening a sex-verification test, which in the past presented an awkward and embarrassing situation for the parties involved. The organization said the new regulations involve a test to see whether a woman’s natural testosterone levels fall within the normal range of a man, although the I.O.C. does not reveal what a man’s normal levels might be.
If a female athlete is found to have a condition known as hyperandrogenism, which involves an excessive production of androgens, she will not be allowed to compete as a woman. To be barred, the female must have hyperandrogenism that “confers a competitive advantage,” the I.O.C. said, which means the androgens produce strength, power and speed because the body is receptive to them.
Dr. Eric Vilain, a medical geneticist and the director of the Institute for Society and Genetics at U.C.L.A, was among the medical experts who advised the I.O.C. He called the guidelines imperfect, but said “you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere.”
“The idea is to say, if a woman has higher levels of testosterone than other women, will it provide an advantage? Yes,” Vilain said. “Is it unfair? No, as long as this level stays under the lowest male level. It should not be considered more unfair than any genetic giftedness of any other athlete.”
He said that the upper range of a woman’s testosterone level and the lower range of a man’s do not overlap, and between them is “a huge no man’s land” unless the woman is born with intersex conditions, having both male and female anatomical characteristics. And even then, the testosterone levels for those women will rarely enter the men’s normal range, he said.
The I.O.C. policy, outlined in a statement dated June 22, will be in effect for this summer’s Olympics in London and will probably be followed by all sports federations that participate in the Olympics. The I.O.C. Medical Commission will be ready to take any cases and begin an investigation into them if any arise at the Games.
I.O.C. officials could not be reached Saturday night for comment.
The issue of sex testing stirred an international debate in 2009 when Caster Semenya, a runner from South Africa, was accused by competitors of being too masculine when she won the world championship in the 800 meters in Berlin. She crushed her competition by more than two seconds. Track and field officials acknowledged the situation was mishandled as Semenya’s case played out publicly.
After questions were raised about her sex — that she possibly was a man competing in a women’s race — she was required to undergo sex testing and did not compete internationally. Track and field’s world governing body cleared her to return to competition in July 2010, although the results of her sex tests were not released in order to protect her privacy. She has qualified for the London Games.
During the controversy, she said through her lawyers, “I have been subjected to unwarranted and invasive scrutiny of the most intimate and private details of my being.”
Sex tests gained prominence in sports in the 1960s, when the Soviet-bloc countries were suspected of entering men in women’s events. The I.O.C. stopped large-scale sex testing in 1999. But the issue has not disappeared.
Because anatomy and gender identity can be complicated — some people are born with both male and female anatomical characteristics — and the root of athletic ability is not clearly apparent, there is broad disagreement over what criteria, if any, are most fair and effective in segregating sexes for competition.
“In general, the performances of male and female athletes may differ mainly due to the fact that men can produce significantly more androgenic hormones than women and therefore are under stronger influence of such hormones,” the I.O.C. statement said.
Under the new policy, an investigation into the possibility that an athlete has hyperandrogenism can be requested by an athlete concerned about her own condition; a medical official for a country’s Olympic committee; a member of the I.O.C. Medical Commission or a member of the Olympic organizing committee’s medical commission; or the chairman of the I.O.C. Medical Commission.
If the chairman decides to conduct an investigation, relevant documents like medical records will be gathered. If further investigation is needed, a panel of one gynecologist, one genetic expert and one endocrinologist will try to determine whether hyperandrogenism is present and if it offers a competitive advantage.
If need be, the athlete and her international federation can appeal the decision within 21 days to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. She can also compete in men’s events if she qualifies.
The guidelines do not address whether a woman found to have hyperandrogenism could undergo a treatment to make her eligible to compete as a woman.
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