Female Track Olympians Will Have Had DNA Sex Testing

The head of track's governing body on Tuesday announced a policy change designed to "doggedly protect the female category": all female athletes participating in World Athletics track and field events will have to undergo DNA sex testing. The New York Times reports that makes it the first Olympic sport to have such a requirement. World Athletics head Sebastian Coe says the testing will take the form of a noninvasive cheek swab or dry blood DNA test. "Neither of these are invasive," Coe told reporters. "They are necessary and they will be done to absolute medical standards." The Washington Post reports World Athletics already bars transgender athletes; Coe said the planned testing is "not just talking about the integrity of female, women's sport but actually guaranteeing it." More:

• Background: At the 2016 Games, the three medalists in the women's 800 meters had one of a number of conditions that are collectively called differences in sex development, or DSD. Two years later, DSD track athletes were required to take medication to suppress their testosterone levels so that they could compete. That won't be permitted going forward.
• Impact: The new rules will affect any athlete that does not have the typical female XX sex chromosomes and has DSD. The Times explains: "Such people can be female to outward appearances, and some do not know they have DSD. But their unusual genetics can result in high levels of testosterone, and possibly greater muscular development, giving them some of the athletic advantage that men have."
• Timing: The AP reports athletes will have to submit to the test just once in their running career. As for whether they'll be required to do so before the world championships in September is unclear as World Athletics has yet to confirm a testing partner.
• The Paris Games: Things reached a fever pitch in Paris after two female boxers who allegedly failed gender eligibility tests at the world championships a year prior were allowed to compete. The Post writes, "the fallout from last summer led to a widespread belief in the Olympic community that the IOC must come up with some kind of mandate."
• The IOC's view: Per the Post, it has no policy and has said individual sports federations should determine their own rules.

(More track and field stories.)