World Athletics approves swab test to determine female gender

• Published On: 25 March 2025 at 19:21

World Athletics said on Tuesday it had approved the introduction of a cheek swab test to determine if an athlete is biologically female.

Sebastian Coe, the head of the International Track and Field Federation, said the decision taken by the body’s decision-making Council was a “really important” way of protecting the female category.

"It's important to do it because it maintains everything that we've been talking about, and particularly recently, about not just talking about the integrity of female women's sport, but actually guaranteeing it," Coe said at a press conference following the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China.

"We feel this is a really important way of providing confidence and maintaining that absolute focus on the integrity of competition."

Coe stated that the decision was made after extensive consultation on the proposal.

"Overwhelmingly, the view has come back that this is absolutely the way to go," he said, adding that the swab test was not thought to be too intrusive.

He expressed confidence that the policy could withstand legal challenges, but added, "You accept the fact that that is the world we live in."

"I would never have embarked on this journey to protect the female category in sport unless I was fully prepared to face the challenge.

"We went to the Court of Arbitration over our DSD (difference in sex development) regulations.

"They were upheld first, and then again on appeal. So we will do whatever it takes to protect the female category.

Coe announced the policy a week after finishing third in the race to become the International Olympic Committee's new president, which was won by former Zimbabwean Olympic swimmer Kirsty Coventry.