Olympic Games Return to Fairness and Safety for Female Athletes

Save Women’s Sport Australasia (SWSA) welcomes the International Olympic Committee’s decision to protect female competitors by ensuring fair and safe competition in Olympic sport.

From the LA28 Games onwards, eligibility for the female category will be limited to biological females, verified by a simple, one-time SRY gene test (via cheek swab or saliva). Athletes who test SRY-positive — indicating male sex development — will be ineligible, restoring fairness and safety, especially in contact sports. IOC President Kirsty Coventry stated: “It would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”

SWSA welcomed the announcement and says the IOC had opened the female category to male advantage for years. “That flawed policy was quickly adopted by international federations, national bodies, and sports at every level — from elite to grassroots — displacing women and girls from podiums, scholarships, and opportunities” says Ro Edge, SWSA NZ Co-Spokeswoman.

“After years of female athletes being displaced and endangered, science and common sense are finally prevailing at the Olympics. If fairness matters at the Games, it must matter in every Australian and New Zealand sport, at every age and every level.”

SWSA calls on all sporting organisations in New Zealand and Australia to adopt the same standard. Consistent rules across every level of sport are essential to protect female athletes. Partial measures or continued loopholes at school, club, or regional levels undermine the very fairness the Olympics now seek to protect.

Australian Co-Spokeswoman Deborah Acason concluded: "Women’s sport is a sex-based category for biological females. Male developmental advantages — beginning in utero and reinforced at puberty — cannot be fully erased. On top of this, females manage unique reproductive disadvantages such as menstruation and its impact on performance. Women’s sport is not a consolation category"

Media Contacts:

Ro Edge & Candice Riley (New Zealand) Email: savewomenssports@gmail.com

Deborah Acason & Nerissa Pace (Australia): savewomenssportsau@gmail.com

Olympic Games Return to Fairness and Safety for Female Athletes