Sex determination in sports

Sex determination in sports is the issue of determining the gender in which an athlete can compete. The issue arose a number of times in the Olympic games where it was alleged that male athletes attempted to compete as women in order to win. Sex testing was started in the mid 1960s to keep men from competing as women. While it arose primarily from the Olympic games, sex determination affects any sporting event. However it appears it most often becomes an issue in elite international competition.

The practice has since come under fire from those that feel that the testing is humiliating, socially insensitive, and not entirely accurate or effective anyway. The testing is especially difficult and problematic in the case of people who could be considered intersexual. Sex testing has been done as recently as the Atlanta Olympic games, but is no longer practiced, having been officially stopped by the International Olympic Committee in 1999.

New rules permit transsexual athletes to compete in the Olympics after having completed sex reassignment surgery, being legally recognized as a member of the target sex, and having undergone two years of hormonal therapy. [1]

See also

• Sexual differentiation
• Intersexual

External link

• http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0082.htm - A summary of the issue opposing the practice.