How the IOC is looking at integrating transgender athletes

Two years before the Paris Olympics, Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), explained how the international body intends to integrate transgender athletes across disciplines.

What future for transgender athletes? The topic is still very sensitive. The exploits of the American swimmer Leah Thomas, who was born a man but became a woman, aroused controversy even in Europe, where British Prime Minister Boris Johnson intervened in the debate: “I do not think that biological men should participate in women’s sports events “, decided the Prime Minister. In terms of the IOC, even if we can’t compare all sports, openness takes precedence.

Bach: “Everyone should have access to sports”

Last summer, at the Tokyo Games, New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender athlete to compete in an individual event at the Olympics. But what about the Paris Games 2022?

“I think this topic will be part of the campaign,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach replied Friday during a press conference. I spoke about it with the Australian Prime Minister (Scott Morrison). The position of the IOC is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. We all agree that sport should be inclusive of everyone. Everyone should have access to sports. When we talk about competitions, we have to make sure they are fair. This means studying sport by sport, and discipline by discipline. And seeing that there might be a flaw is unfair.”

According to the German leader, the IOC will therefore develop guidelines to clarify the situation of transgender athletes in every sport and every discipline: “We are in contact with various international federations to send the various information they may have. They need,” concludes Thomas Bach.