Aussie Olympics star hits out at bombshell decision to test female athletes to see if
Australian Olympic track athlete Linden Hall has voiced her concerns over World Athletics’ plans to introduce mandatory chromosome testing for female athletes.
She claimed the reforms are moving into a ‘tricky space’ with regard to the privacy of elite competitors.
On Tuesday, World Athletics president Lord Sebastian Coe announced the bombshell new measure, which will require athletes competing in female events to undergo cheek swabbing in order to prove whether they are biological women.
Cheek swabs are being introduced to ensure fair competition in female categories, with World Athletics now becoming the first sport to introduce DNA testing for elite female competitors.
World Athletics – formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations – and the International Olympic Committee had previously implemented a version of chromosome testing between 1958 and 1992. Chromosome testing was subsequently discontinued.
Lord Coe told reporters at a news conference that athletes would only need to take the test once in their careers, but it has sparked a protest from Hall, a two-time Australian national champion in the 1500m.
Australian Olympic track athlete Linden Hall (left) has voiced concerns over World Athletics’ plans to introduce mandatory chromosome testing for female athletes
Earlier this week, World Athletics president Lord Sebastian Coe announced that the governing body would be mandating cheek swabs for those wishing to compete in female events
‘I definitely have some concerns over athlete welfare in that space,’ Hall, who also sits on the Athletics Australia Athletes Advisory Committee, told ABC Sport.
‘It seems a bit too close to medical information and things like that. I’m not sure of the processes and how it’s all going to be done. But I just hope it’s done appropriately and with care and respects the athletes’ privacy.
‘I think that’s a really tricky space that you’re wandering into if someone’s all of a sudden no longer allowed to compete, that’s basically putting their medical information out there and I don’t think that is amazing for an athlete.’
Hall, who represented Australia in Rio, Tokyo and in Paris, added: ‘[Athletics has] such a diverse range of events and body types and shapes that it suits so has a place for everyone. That’s something that is important to athletics, especially [at the] community and school level.
‘In order to be a really welcoming space, it needs to be done properly.’
World Athletics banned transgender athletes from competing in female disciplines back in 2023.
Speaking on the latest reforms, Lord Coe said: ‘It’s important to do it because it maintains everything that we’ve been talking about, and particularly recently, about not just talking about the integrity of female women’s sport, but actually guaranteeing it.
‘We feel this is a really important way of providing confidence and maintaining that absolute focus on the integrity of competition.’
Hall, who represented Australia in Rio, Tokyo and Paris, said that the proposals seem ‘a bit too close to medical information’
Hall added: ‘In order to be a really welcoming space, it needs to be done properly’
World Athletics have since conducted consultation over the new cheek swab proposal with Lord Coe stating: ‘Overwhelmingly, the view has come back that this is absolutely the way to go, within the caveats raised [on testing not being too intrusive].
Australian Athletics have published guidance on the participation of transgender athletes in female disciplines.
Their Inclusion of Transgender and Gender Diverse People in Athletics Competition Policy states ‘all people should have the opportunity to participate in athletics’.
The governing body adds that it is ‘committed to promoting the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse athletes in athletics’.
But the policy adds that athletes competing at World Rankings competitions in Australia must comply with the eligibility rules for the competition set out by World Athletics.
‘At World Rankings Competition (see 10.13) events conducted in Australia, an Athlete must comply with the Eligibility Rules for the Competition set out by World Athletics, including the World Athletics Eligibility Regulations for Transgender Athletes,’ the policy states.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Australian Athletics for comment.
Some have risen to support World Athletics’ new proposal, including former Olympian Sharron Davies. The ex-swimmer has spoken out on the inclusion of trans athletes competing in women’s categories in the past.
Lord Coe said that World Athletics have conducted a consultation over the proposal as he vowed to ‘doggedly protect’ the female category
Sharron Davies, who has been outspoken on the subject, applauded World Athletics’ proposals on social media
She wrote on X: ‘No more cheating in track and fields by males in a category for females. I’d very much like to see medals re-issued for events ruined and women unfairly robbed!’
The reforms also come after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February, banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s disciplines.
Lord Coe had also been asked whether the introduction of the new police would be able to stand up to legal scrutiny.
He said: ‘Yes I am, but you accept the fact that that is the world we live in.
‘I would never have set off down this path to protect the female category in sport if I’d been anything other than prepared to take the challenge head-on. We’ve been to the Court of Arbitration on our DSD (difference of sexual development) regulations.
‘They have been upheld, and they have again been upheld after appeal. So we will doggedly protect the female category, and we’ll do whatever is necessary to do it.’