Transgender track and field athletes can't compete in women's international events

World Athletics Council, the governing body for international track and field, will bar transgender women athletes from elite competitions for women.

The council's policy, which will be in effect starting March 31, largely targets athletes who transitioned from male to female after going through puberty as a male. It will also tighten rules for athletes with disorders of sexual development, cutting in half the level of testosterone athletes can have in order to compete in women's events.

The council said they ultimately decided to prioritize "fairness and the integrity" of the female competition over inclusion. Though the council says there are no transgender athletes currently in international track and field competition, the ruling could hinder several people who've won Olympic medals in the past.

"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," Sebastian Coe, the council's president, wrote in a press statement on Thursday.