Participation in sport is a right for everyone. We know sport is great for our physical health, and for our social, emotional and mental health. Australia is a great nation of sports watchers and participants. Next month the world looks forward to the Olympics and this year there will be some fierce debate centred on some of the women’s sporting competitions. Namely those events with transgender females who are competing in female sports.
A transgender female is someone born male and then makes a decision to live as a female. To assist their transition they will take sex hormones and have surgery. Some transgender females now want to compete in women’s sport and that brings an immense challenge. At the Olympics the stakes are high. The training, carried out over many years, will have meant enormous sacrifice and to be pipped at the post by a biological man in a women’s sporting event just doesn’t seem fair.
It may seem inclusive, but is it fair? The IOC have stated “There’s considerable tension between the notions of fairness and inclusion, and the desire and need to protect the women’s category.”
What does this male advantage look like? Let’s quantify it. When males go through puberty they gain physiological advantages such as higher lung capacity, increased blood flow and greater bone strength. These advantage don’t diminish completely after a gender transition. In the final analysis a man is on average 7% taller and 13% larger. Women on average have only 66% of male lower body strength and 52% of male upper body strength.
At Olympic level, the pinnacle for any athlete, the difference between male and females world records are around 10% – across sprinting, distance and strength events.
Transgender women don’t always win, but a women will probably need to work even harder to win in her category. But the odds are tipped towards the transgender woman. In the US in 2017 and 2018, a transgender female won a high school track championships in the 55m, 100m, 200m and 300m events. Her closest and only real competitor was also a transgender female.
Some argue that sports is never an equal playing field and there are always inherent advantages in some people and disadvantages with others. While that may accurate putting biological men up against women is “not fair play”, nor is it safe play.
Everyone has a right to compete and participate and we need a solution that takes biology into account. Maybe our best outcomes is a women’s category and an open category. That way sport is inclusive, safe and fair.
