The Body of Proof: The Humiliating History of Gender Testing in Women's Sports Returns
From medical certificates in 1948 to visual examinations in Budapest, Olympic sports have long struggled to scientifically define what a woman is. The IOC's decision and the WTA's adoption of mandatory genetic testing ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Games have brought this charged issue back to the center stage.
Gender testing in sports has become a prominent headline in recent years due to the growth of the community and the coming out of transgender individuals, but the history of humiliating checks on women's identity spans nearly ninety years. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, suspicions arose that male athletes were dressing up to compete in women's track and field events. Avery Brundage, who opposed the boycott of the Nazi Berlin Games and later, as IOC president, insisted on continuing the Munich Games after the massacre of Israeli athletes, ordered gender testing to be implemented. By the first post-WWII Olympics in London 1948, female athletes were required to present official "women's certificates."
In 1966, at the European Athletics Championships, the process became even more invasive: organizers bypassed laboratory evidence in favor of visual examinations of naked athletes by an all-male panel. In other instances, women were subjected to gynecological exams. By the 1968 Grenoble and Mexico City Olympics, this was replaced by the "Barr body" test, a cheek swab to identify sex chromosomes. Athletes lacking two X chromosomes or possessing a Y chromosome were forced to undergo further medical scrutiny. Experts criticized these tests as scientifically flawed, while women's rights organizations highlighted the psychological trauma and public shame inflicted upon intersex athletes.
By 1988, the International Amateur Athletic Federation abandoned these tests, and by 1999, sports federations had largely ceased gender testing. From 2011, World Athletics and the IOC shifted to monitoring natural testosterone levels. It seemed this era of stigma and forced medical intervention was over, yet history is repeating itself. The cases of South African runner Caster Semenya and the scandals surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Taiwanese athlete Lin Yu-ting at the 2024 Paris Olympics have reignited the debate. After the International Boxing Association disqualified Khelif and Yu-ting from the World Championships citing failed genetic tests, the IOC took over the Olympic tournament, allowing both to compete.
The IOC's decision sparked outrage following Khelif's bout against Italy's Angela Carini, who surrendered 46 seconds into the fight. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and US President Donald Trump voiced sharp criticism, citing safety concerns. While there is no evidence that Khelif and Yu-ting were not born female, right-wing organizations campaigned against their inclusion in women's categories. In March, the IOC, led by Kirsty Coventry, announced that starting with the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, only "biological women" would be eligible for the women's category. The new policy includes restrictions for athletes with Differences of Sex Development (DSD) and mandates a test for the SRY gene.
Pressure from the administration of Donald Trump, who signed an executive order in February 2025 banning transgender athletes from women's sports under threat of losing federal funding, forced the IOC to align its policies. However, the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) decision to follow the IOC's lead and implement mandatory testing has caused a rift in the sports world. WTA founder Billie Jean King expressed opposition to the move, while former tennis star Martina Navratilova welcomed it. The divide between these two sports legends highlights just how far this historical issue remains from a true resolution.
