IOC rules transgender athletes can compete in Olympics without surgery

The International Olympics Committee has ruled that transgender athletes should be allowed to compete without undergoing sex reassignment surgery, a report by the Guardian claims.

According to reports IOC medical officials said they want to change the policy to reflect current scientific, social and legal attitudes to transgender issues, when they introduced the new guidelines on Sunday.

The Guardian reports that guidelines are designed as recommendations, rather than strict rules and regulations for international sports federations and other bodies to follow and should apply for this year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“I don’t think many federations have rules on defining eligibility of transgender individuals,” IOC medical director Richard Budgett said.

“This should give them the confidence and stimulus to put these rules in place.”

Under the previous IOC guidelines, athletes who transitioned from male to female or vice versa were required to have reassignment surgery followed by at least two years of hormone therapy in order to be eligible to compete. However, surgery will no longer be required, with female-to-male transgender athletes eligible to take part in men’s competitions “without restriction”. According to reports however, male-to-female transgender athletes will need to demonstrate that their testosterone level has been below a certain cutoff point for at least one year before their first competition.

“It is necessary to ensure insofar as possible that trans athletes are not excluded from the opportunity to participate in sporting competition,” the IOC said in a document posted on its website.

 “The overriding sporting objective is and remains the guarantee of fair competition.

The guidelines were approved after a meeting of Olympic officials and medical experts in November 2015 in Lausanne, Switzerland, however, Budgett said there were no plans for the guidelines to be sent for approval by the IOC executive board.

“This is a scientific consensus paper, not a rule or regulation,” he said. “It is the advice of the medical and scientific commission and what we consider the best advice.”