Overview

• All female-category entrants must complete an SRY gene test by September 1 to confirm biological sex before the World Championships in Tokyo starting September 13.
• National member federations will oversee buccal swab or dried blood spot collection, with World Athletics covering up to 100% of testing costs and results delivered within two weeks.
• The requirement replaces the 2018 rule mandating testosterone suppression for DSD athletes and consolidates frameworks governing DSD and transgender eligibility.
• Limited transitional provisions allow a small number of athletes with differences of sexual development on medication to compete under previous criteria, and no elite trans women currently qualify for exemptions.
• World Athletics president Sebastian Coe emphasized that confirmed biological sex is essential to preserving fairness and integrity in women’s athletics at the elite level.