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In the past,…athletic governing bodies would simply swab female athletes’ cheeks and check their saliva for markers of a Y chromosome; if a given athlete had one, she wouldn’t be allowed to compete as a woman…But, as it turns out, a Y chromosome doesn’t always confer a biological advantage.
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Where there is at least some debate is…the question of whether athletes with conditions like Semenya and Chand’s are enjoying an unfair advantage, given that the point of dividing sports by sex is to account for certain biological differences between women and men…If a woman has enough of the characteristics which would account for a male athlete being faster and stronger than a female one, should she still be able to compete with women who don’t have those characteristics?
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Should Olympic Athletes Get Sex-Tested at All?
