LONDON – British Rowing will ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s events starting from Thursday, according to a report from the Daily Telegraph.
Following months of discussions at the governing body, more than 80 per cent of its members had advocated for the change to safeguard the fairness and integrity of the female category, the newspaper said.
Rowing is often seen as an endurance sport in which men have significant physical advantages over women, and therefore a majority of British Rowing’s members – reportedly about 31,500 in total – have been pressuring the body to tighten its rules.
British Rowing’s chairman Mark Davies has also been a major advocate for setting up a specific “open category” for transgender rowers, according to the Daily Mail.
At the World Rowing Congress in 2022, he insisted that there will be a “threat” to women’s sport if transgenders are allowed to compete in the female category.
“World Rowing is less protective of women’s sport than some other international federations such as (swimming body) Fina, which has adopted a policy of having open and women’s categories,” he had said then.
“Would World Rowing look at its policy out of concern that there is a threat to the hard-fought-for progress in women’s sport and consider following Fina’s lead?”
Transgender rights have become a major talking point in recent years as sports seek to balance inclusion while ensuring there is no unfair advantage.
World Rowing currently allows transgender athletes to compete in the female category if they reduce their testosterone level to below five nanomoles per litre for 12 months.
World Athletics, World Aquatics and cycling’s governing body UCI are among global federations that have tightened their participation rules over the last couple of years and football’s world governing body Fifa is also reviewing its transgender eligibility policies.
British Rowing has been leaning towards that route although there were some members of Davies’ board who have opposed his stance. As a result, the body decided to allow its members to vote on its transgender policy with three options on the table.
The first of which was the current policy – allowing transgenders to compete in women’s events if their testosterone level is below five nanomoles per litre for two years, the second was to follow the slightly less strict restrictions set out by World Rowing, and the third was allowing only those who are born female to compete in the female category.
The Telegraph said that, although the results were not made public, more than 80 per cent were in favour of the third option.
REUTERS
