The decision was the latest salvo in an ongoing fight over whether trans athletes should compete according to their gender identity or their sex assigned at birth.
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The world swimming body effectively bans transgender women from women's events
Under the policy, transgender women must show that "they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 or before age 12, whichever is later," a move that effectively eliminates their eligibility to compete in the women's category. Tanner Stages describe the physical changes people undergo during puberty.FINA said it was necessary to use sex and sex-linked traits to determine eligibility criteria because of the "performance gap" that appears between males and females during puberty.
"Without eligibility standards based on biological sex or sex-linked traits, we are very unlikely to see biological females in finals, on podiums, or in championship positions; and in sports and events involving collisions and projectiles, biological female athletes would be at greater risk of injury," the policy reads.
The group said it devised the policy in consultation with athletic, scientific and legal experts.