2023-07-14 16:01:19
The International Cycling Union announces this Friday, July 14 that trans athletes will only be able to run with men. A decision which would aim to “protect the female category and ensure equal opportunities”.
This Friday, July 14, the International Cycling Union (UCI) announces that it will ban the participation in international competitions of transgender women who have made their transition after puberty. The decision will take effect on July 17.
It was recorded at a meeting held last week, explains the organization in a statement. And after a seminar “during which transgender and cisgender athletes, experts in the scientific, legal and human rights fields, and sports institutions, were able to present their respective positions”.
From now on, it is impossible for a trans woman to ride in the women’s peloton. On the other hand, specifies the UCI, the category “men” will now be renamed “men / open”, allowing “any athlete who does not meet the conditions for participation in women’s events” to be admitted. In other words, we ask women who have made their transition to compete with… men.
“Protecting the female category”
The UCI justifies its decision because of the “scientific knowledge” which does not “confirm” that a person on hormone treatment for at least two years has completely “eliminated the benefits of testosterone during puberty in men”. . The body also highlights “the biomechanical factors” that could benefit trans women such as “the shape and arrangement of the bones”: “The UCI management committee concluded […] that it was necessary to take this measure to protect the female category and ensure equal opportunities.”
However, the UCI opens the way to a modification of the rules “according to the evolution of scientific knowledge”. Until then, the UCI authorized trans women who had experienced male puberty to participate in women’s events if their testosterone levels – a male hormone secreted in greater quantities in men than in women – were reduced to 2.5 nanomoles per liter in the previous two years.
At the end of 2021, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gave up establishing uniform guidelines for all sports, leaving control to the various international federations. Last March, the International Athletics Federation took a decision similar to the UCI and invoked the same arguments: “The World Athletics Council has taken clear measures to protect the female category of our sport”, explained the president of the federation. .
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