World Athletics tightens rules on transgender women athletes

World Athletics (WA) announced new rules on Thursday impacting transgender women athletes, banning some from competing in female track and field events.

The announced regulations, which come into force on March 31, prohibit athletes who have gone through what WA called “male puberty” from participating in female world rankings competitions. WA said the exclusion would apply to “male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty.”

“Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in a statement.