Eligibility in the women's category

What this page covers

Almost every sport separates a men's and a women's category. The rule that decides who may enter the women's category is an eligibility rule, written by each international federation for its own competitions, in the same way as the rules on sporting nationality and registration.

This page sets out what those rules currently say, with the date each was adopted and the terms each body uses. It does not argue the merits. Where a rule is contested it records who has contested it and where it has been litigated, and goes no further. The federation entries are stated as verified in August 2026 rather than as settled, because this area has moved repeatedly and several bodies have reviews open.

One point of scope, easy to misstate: nearly every rule below binds only that body's own competitions. The IOC's policy applies to IOC events; World Rugby's applies in World Rugby tournaments; World Netball's at international level only; the ICC's in international women's cricket only. None of them regulates recreational or domestic sport, which is governed separately by national associations and, in some countries, by national law.

The long history of sex testing

Verification of the women's category is not new, and its methods have changed roughly every generation.

• 1966-67 — physical examination. The IAAF required physical inspection of female entrants at the 1966 European Championships in Budapest and the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg; a manual examination was carried out at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston. The popular story that "nude parades" took place at the Olympic Games is not supported: the authors of the best-known account published a correction stating they found no evidence of such examinations at the Games, and the consensus is that the visual inspections were confined to IAAF events in 1966 and 1967.^[1] [2]
• 1967-68 — chromosome testing. The IAAF added chromosome testing in 1967; the IOC introduced the sex chromatin, or Barr body, buccal smear at the 1968 Mexico City Games. In practice the follow-up protocol was rarely used, because athletes who failed the screen tended to withdraw rather than be investigated further.^[2]
• The cases that ended it. Ewa Kłobukowska passed the 1966 inspection and failed the 1967 chromosome test. María José Martínez-Patiño, retested at the 1985 Universiade in Kobe, was found to have a 46,XY karyotype with androgen insensitivity; the finding was leaked to a reporter, and she was reinstated in 1988 after intervention by medical authorities. Her case is generally credited with turning medical opinion against blanket screening.^[2] [3]
• 1991-99 — abandonment. The IAAF Council decided in 1991 to abandon laboratory-based verification, in effect from 1992. The IOC moved to PCR screening for the SRY gene at Albertville 1992 — 2,406 women screened at Barcelona 1992, 3,387 at Atlanta 1996, with every athlete flagged ultimately permitted to compete — and discontinued compulsory testing in 1999. From Sydney 2000, testing was suspicion-based only.^[2] [3]

Two IOC consensus statements bridge the gap to the modern rules. The Stockholm Consensus, agreed on 28 October 2003 and applied from Athens 2004, required completed surgery, legal recognition and hormone therapy, with eligibility no sooner than two years after gonadectomy. The 2015 consensus dropped the surgical requirement outright — stating that surgery "is not necessary to preserve fair competition" — and replaced it with a declaration of gender identity fixed for four years and total serum testosterone below 10 nmol/L for at least 12 months.^[4] [5]

The testosterone era and its litigation

From 2011 to about 2023, eligibility was regulated almost everywhere by a serum testosterone threshold, and the number kept falling.

The IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations, adopted 12 April 2011 and in force from 1 May 2011, set the limit at 10 nmol/L. They were suspended by CAS in the interim award in Dutee Chand v AFI & IAAF on 24 July 2015, the panel finding that the IAAF had not provided sufficient scientific evidence of the quantitative relationship between elevated testosterone and improved performance — while noting the assumption might yet be proved valid, with the burden remaining on the federation.^[6] [3]

The Eligibility Regulations for the Female Classification (Athletes with DSD), issued 26 April 2018 and in force from 8 May 2019, replaced them. The threshold fell to 5 nmol/L, sustained for at least six months, and applied to athletes with a difference of sex development who were androgen-sensitive, in "Restricted Events" from 400m to the mile.^[7] [8]

Caster Semenya challenged those regulations. CAS dismissed her claim on 30 April 2019, holding by majority that the regulations were discriminatory but a necessary, reasonable and proportionate means of protecting the female category — while recording three concerns of its own: the practical difficulty of holding testosterone below the limit, the evidence for including the 1500m and the mile, and the risk of an athlete's DSD status becoming public. The Swiss Federal Tribunal declined to set the award aside on 25 August 2020.^[8] [9]

An ECtHR Chamber found for Semenya on 11 July 2023 by four votes to three. The Grand Chamber ruled on 10 July 2025, and the outcome is narrower than it is usually reported. It found a violation of Article 6 § 1 only, by 15 votes to 2 — the Swiss Federal Tribunal owed her a "particularly rigorous examination" of the CAS award and did not deliver one. By 13 votes to 4 it declared the discrimination and private-life complaints inadmissible for want of Swiss jurisdiction, reversing the Chamber. It did not hold the regulations unlawful or discriminatory, did not annul the CAS award or the Swiss judgment, and did not restore her eligibility. The ruling was against Switzerland, not against World Athletics. More on the CAS route.^[10] [11]

The shift to genetic screening, 2025-26

Between 2025 and 2026 several bodies replaced the testosterone model with a one-off genetic test, and the IOC followed.

World Athletics announced on 30 July 2025 that all athletes wishing to compete in the female category must undergo a once-in-a-lifetime test for the SRY gene, by cheek swab or blood test, administered through member federations. The regulations took effect on 1 September 2025 and were first applied at the World Championships in Tokyo that month. The current Eligibility Rules, approved 19 March 2026, define "biological female" as someone with no Y chromosome, "irrespective of their legal sex and/or gender identity"; transitional provisions preserve eligibility for already-declared DSD athletes maintaining testosterone below 2.5 nmol/L. The federation's published commitments state that it does not judge or question gender identity and has never required surgery.^[12] [13]

World Boxing introduced mandatory sex testing on 20 August 2025 — not 1 July 2025, as is often written. Its Sex Eligibility Policy requires every boxer over 18 to take a once-in-a-lifetime PCR test for the SRY gene; national federations certify the result and are sanctionable for false certification, and false certification carries four years' ineligibility for the athlete. Unusually, the policy states that sex certification records "shall not be considered confidential" and requires written consent to that. It was first applied at the World Championships in Liverpool in September 2025. Announcing the policy on 30 May 2025 the federation named an individual boxer; it apologised five days later, its president writing to the president of the Algerian federation to acknowledge that the policy should not have been linked to any individual.^{[14] [15] [16]}

The IOC adopted its Policy on the Protection of the Female (Women's) Category in Olympic Sport on 26 March 2026, after a review running from September 2024, a working group formed in September 2025, and an athlete survey drawing over 1,100 responses. Eligibility for any female-category event at an IOC event is limited to biological females, determined in the first instance by SRY gene screening from saliva, a cheek swab or blood; a negative screen satisfies the criteria permanently. Athletes with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome or other rare differences of sex development that confer no benefit from testosterone are excepted. The policy replaces the 2021 Framework, applies from LA28 onwards, is not retroactive, and does not apply to grassroots or recreational sport. The IOC's own FAQ states that it is for each federation to determine how and when screening is required, that a federation may request an exception for a sport not dependent on strength, power or endurance, that the IOC did not consider a third or open category, and that athletes may refuse the screen but will not then be able to enter the female category at IOC events.^[17] [18]

The 2021 Framework it replaced had gone the other way: released 16 November 2021 after a two-year consultation, it set out ten principles and stated expressly that the IOC was "not in a position to issue regulations that define eligibility criteria for every sport," leaving the question to federations.^[19]

Where each federation stands

Positions as verified in August 2026, in each body's own terms. The variety is the point: there is no single international rule.

• World Athletics — SRY screening, since 1 September 2025; "biological female" defined as no Y chromosome.^[12]
• World Boxing — PCR SRY test for all boxers over 18, since 20 August 2025; transgender boxers "welcome to compete in the category of their birth sex."^[14]
• FIVB (volleyball) — "sex categorisation" by SRY test, regulations approved 8 May 2026; a three-person Sex Eligibility Committee may allow one change of categorisation, with a limit of one such player per team per event.^[20]
• World Aquatics — the policy ratified by congress on 19 June 2022 requires that an athlete has not experienced male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 or age 12, whichever is later, with testosterone continuously below 2.5 nmol/L. Less noticed: since June 2022 all athletes must certify their chromosomal sex with their federation. No later amendment was located.^[21]
• World Rugby — guideline in force 9 October 2020: transgender women who transitioned after puberty cannot play women's rugby; a puberty-based rule with no threshold. It applies in World Rugby tournaments; unions are recommended, not required, to adopt it domestically.^[22]
• UCI (cycling) — in force 17 July 2023: athletes who transitioned after male puberty are barred from women's events on the international calendar; at international Masters events the men's category was renamed Men/Open and admits anyone.^[23]
• World Triathlon — from 1 January 2025, age-group female entry requires being assigned female at birth and not transitioning to male, with the former age-group men's category becoming an Open category; the elite pathway runs four years, including three at below 2.5 nmol/L. It has "noted" but not adopted the IOC policy.^[24]
• World Rowing — since 15 March 2025 the men's event is an open category and women's entry requires being assigned and recognised as female at birth. There is no longer any testosterone threshold in the Rules of Racing; a Sex Determination Advisory Panel advises on competitive advantage. It has said no change will be implemented before 1 January 2027.^[25] [26]
• ISU (skating) — Communication 2595, effective 11 October 2023: declaration fixed four years, testosterone below 2.5 nmol/L for 12 or 24 months depending on when transition occurred, monthly records and three-monthly testing. A working group to review it in light of the IOC policy was announced on 11 June 2026.^[27] [28]
• IWF (weightlifting) — policy enforced from 1 August 2023, with a separate Open Gender category for non-cisgender, intersex and DSD athletes.^[29]
• World Sailing — Policy I1, in force 1 January 2025: Tanner Stage 2 condition plus testosterone below 2.5 nmol/L for at least 12 months.^[30]
• World Netball — policy in force 8 April 2024, at international level only, and expressly not covering DSD athletes. Widely reported as a ban; the text is narrower, admitting those recorded as female at birth and transgender athletes who have never experienced the biological effects of testosterone.^[31]
• ICC (cricket) — announced 21 November 2023: anyone who has been through any form of male puberty is ineligible for the international women's game regardless of surgery or treatment; domestic eligibility is left to member boards.^[32]
• FIE (fencing) — Statutes Art. 9.3 limits the women's category to those of female sex at birth who have not begun female-to-male hormone treatment. It has not adopted SRY screening.^[33]
• BWF (badminton) — an expressly interim policy in force 12 November 2023, assessing inclusion case by case with no threshold and no categorical rule, and following the 2021 IOC Framework the IOC has since replaced.^[34]
• ISSF (shooting) — the sharpest outlier. Its published criteria state that because men and women shoot similar scores, the women's category "need not be 'protected' per se in the name of fairness," and admit transgender women on a one-time category choice with evidence of three months of gender-affirming treatment or a declaration or diagnosis — no threshold, no genetic test. Its rule book effective 1 July 2026 still cites the 2021 IOC Framework.^[35] [36]
• World Archery — defers by dynamic reference, undertaking to comply with IOC rules "as may exist from time to time," so its operative standard is now the IOC policy even though its own text is unchanged.^[37]
• FIFA — has never adopted an eligibility standard. Its only published instrument is the Gender Verification Regulations of 2011, which are a case-management procedure triggered by substantiated doubt and state expressly that no mandatory or routine testing takes place at FIFA competitions. A review opened in 2022 has produced nothing further.^[38]

No published policy could be located for table tennis, curling, handball or skating and skateboarding. That is an absence of a located document, not proof that none exists.

The open category

Several federations have created a third route rather than a third category. The UCI's Masters "Men/Open," World Triathlon's age-group "Open," World Rowing's open men's event and the IWF's "Open Gender" all work the same way: the men's category is renamed and opened, so that anyone ineligible for the women's category has somewhere to compete.

A genuinely separate open category is a different proposition, and it has not happened. World Aquatics' 2022 policy undertook to determine the feasibility of establishing one. Open-category events were offered on a pilot basis at the swimming World Cup in Berlin in October 2023; on 3 October 2023, after entries closed, the federation confirmed that no entries had been received and the races would not take place. No open-category race is on record as having been held since. The IOC's 2026 FAQ states that it did not consider a third or open category and is committed to the existing two.^[39] [18]

National law and college sport

In some countries the question is now settled by law rather than by federations, which is why national and international eligibility can differ for the same athlete.

In the United States, executive order 14201 of 5 February 2025 directs the Department of Education to prioritise Title IX enforcement against institutions and athletic associations requiring female students to compete against males, directs a review of visa policy, and directs the Secretary of State to press the IOC on the point. The NCAA changed its policy the following day, 6 February 2025: the men's category is open to all student-athletes, the women's category is restricted to those assigned female at birth, no waivers are available, and athletes affected may still practise with the team and retain other benefits. The USOPC added a section to its Athlete Safety Policy, board-approved 18 June 2025 and communicated to national governing bodies in July, committing it to a competition environment consistent with the executive order — a compliance statement rather than an eligibility rule, which each governing body then implemented itself.^{[40] [41] [42]}

On 30 June 2026 the US Supreme Court decided West Virginia v B.P.J. together with Little v Hecox, holding that Title IX allows schools to provide separate women's and men's teams defined by biological sex, and that West Virginia and Idaho did not violate the Equal Protection Clause in maintaining female teams for biological females. The Court noted that 27 states had enacted such laws in the preceding six years.^[43]

In the United Kingdom, the Supreme Court held in For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers on 16 April 2025 that "sex" in the Equality Act 2010 means biological sex and that a Gender Recognition Certificate does not change legal sex for that Act's purposes. Governing bodies followed within weeks: the FA on 1 May 2025, effective 1 June; the ECB on 2 May 2025, with immediate effect. England Netball's own policy, in force 1 September 2025, states expressly that it was not linked to the ruling.^{[44] [45] [46]}

National law cuts the other way too. The IOC's FAQ notes that genetic screening is prohibited in some countries, naming Norway and France, and that athletes from those countries can be screened elsewhere.^[18]

A note on terminology

The terms in this area are not interchangeable, and federations use their own. "Sex testing," "gender verification," "femininity control," "sex chromatin test," "eligibility for the female classification," "sex categorisation," "sex eligibility" and "SRY gene screening" describe historically distinct instruments. Substituting one for another misdescribes the rule.

Three shorthands are worth keeping straight. DSD — differences of sex development — is the term used by World Athletics, World Aquatics, World Rowing, World Boxing and the IOC, which also writes "differences/disorders in sex development" and "XY-DSD"; World Netball's policy expressly does not cover DSD athletes at all. Testosterone thresholds are always given in nmol/L of serum, and the number has moved: 10 in 2011 and 2015, 5 in 2018, 2.5 from 2022. And the newest regimes — World Athletics 2025, World Boxing 2025, the IOC and FIVB in 2026 — have no threshold at all, because a genetic screen replaces the measurement rather than tightening it.^[12] [17]