THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Thursday, March 12, 2020 |R7
A
t the dawn of the 2020s,
most sports have a men’s
category, a women’s cate-
gory—and intense fighting
about the definitions. In a
bid for a cease-fire, re-
searchers around the world are pro-
posing options to eliminate the binary.
In some women’s events, the field
has a disproportionate number of in-
tersex competitors, who have lived
their lives as women but were born
with one of a range of differences in
sex development, such as partial an-
drogen insensitivity syndrome, which
give them some physical characteris-
tics typically associated with men—
and a perceived competitive advan-
tage. Some supporters of women’s
sports say that intersex women
should compete against men in the in-
terests of fairness. Others say no less
passionately that intersex women
shouldn’t be derided or effectively ex-
cluded for naturally occurring traits,
that elite sports are filled with exam-
ples of congenital unfairness, such as
the wingspan of swimmers.
Officials are also responding to
transgender athletes, who pose many
of the same questions about binary
divisions. Disputes are rippling
across the Olympics, adult recre-
ational and school sports. High
school students in Connecticut have
sued to keep transgender girls from
competing in the female category.
Lawmakers in at least five states are
trying to enact provisions to bar
transgender girls and women from
female events.
Some researchers think that two
categories are inadequate and the fu-
ture lies in creating more. Others pro-
pose eliminating the two categories
and changing the rules so that every-
one can play against each other.
Biological traits typically linked to
the male sex, such as higher testoster-
one levels and more muscle mass, willTHE FUTURE OF EVERYTHING |SPORTS
likely continue to explain why some
athletes outperform others, accord-
ing to scientists and academics. But,
they say, the science will likely
evolve to more precisely capture
which traits matter most.
Testosterone—and its perceived
benefits for athletic performance—
currently drives many of today’s
definitions for women’s sports, with
an upper limit excluding some in-
tersex and transgender women, un-
less they follow steps to lower their
levels. World Athletics, the interna-
tional track federation, mandates
that athletes’ blood testosterone
levels fall below twice the typical
female range.
But not everyone believes that
testosterone, or “T,” is as impor-
tant, while other researchers say
that its effects on physiology during
puberty are permanent, no matter
what happens next. Almost nobody
is satisfied with the rules, which are
under constant appeal.
“There’s unfortunately no perfect
solution to setting up a women’s
category,” says Joanna Harper, a
transgender athlete who has stud-
ied the effects of transition on per-formance. “In 2020, the best marker
we have is T.”
Alan Rogol of the University of
Virginia and Myron Genel of Yale
University, both professors emeritus
and pediatric endocrinologists, be-
lieve that the influence of “T” is
less important than the sum of hor-
mones, genetics, training, coaching
and equipment, among other things.
Ultimately, some researchers say,
the long-term answer may lie in ex-
panding the categories beyond
men’s and women’s. This isn’t so far
fetched. There are already age cate-
gories in road running and weight
categories in boxing, for example.
“The time for having two divi-
sions to cover our society, it’s long
gone,” says physiologist Alison
Heather. “Sport hasn’t caught up.
It’s time to address that.”
Dr. Heather is part of a team at
New Zealand’s University of Otago
that proposes using an algorithm to
group athletes into classes for com-
petition based on a range of factors.
These could include height, weight,
maximum oxygen uptake, past and
present testosterone levels, the time
of a gender transition relative to pu- NARIMAN EL-MOFTY/ASSOCIATED PRESSberty, and physiological characteristics
that aren’t changed through hormone
medication, such as heart size.
Other researchers have gone fur-
ther, suggesting modifying rules to al-
low people to compete against each
other regardless of sex.
Stephanie Kovalchik, a senior data
scientist at Zelus Analytics who devel-
oped a tool for performance analysis
for Tennis Australia, says the biggest
sex-linked difference in elite tennis is
in the overarm serve. This could be
neutralized through handicapping:
Give Serena Williams an optimized
racket or ball or an extra serve, and
she could compete in a balanced
match against Roger Federer. (Statis-
tics will tell you if the handicapping is
leveling the playing field appropri-
ately, Dr. Kovalchik says.)
Or let some professional golfers
drive the ball from closer to the hole,
giving audiences a chance to see many
greats in the same event, says Michael
Joyner, a physiologist turned anesthe-
siologist at the Mayo Clinic.
Other possibilities? Score high
jumpers by their leap relative to their
own heights, or allow people to throw
a weight tailored to their physiology.THECONTEST
OVERGENDER
At least
5
The number
of states
where
lawmakers
are
proposing
to bar
transgender
women from
female
eventsAretwosportsdivisions—men’sand
women’s—enough?ByLouiseRadnofsky
“The time
for having
two divi-
sions to
cover our
society, it’s
long gone.
Sport hasn’t
caught up.
It’s time to
address
that.”
Alison Heather, a
physiologist at New
Zealand’s University
of OtagoWSJ TALK / EXPERIENCE /OFFER/GETAWAY/EXTRASBeaVIP
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