Abstract
KEY POINTS
1. IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations are flawed on a scientific level because it has not been proved that testosterone confers an advantage in competition.
2. IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations raise issues of consistencies on two levels: other molecular and genetic variations that confer an advantage in competition are not considered unfair; and there is no upper limit for testosterone in the male category.
3. IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations raise ethical issues at the level of implementation because the trigger for testing is visual perception and hence they pressure female athletes into conforming to stereotypical feminine standards.
4. IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations raise medical concerns because they unnecessarily medicalize a condition (hyperandrogenism) in female athletes with long-term side effects.
5. We need to be critical of the grounds on which the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has suspended the IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations on July 27, 2015, because CAS is buying into the IAAF flawed assumption that if there were a sufficient body of evidence to demonstrate a correlation between testosterone and competitive advantage, this would be unfair and would constitute grounds to reinstate the hyperandrogenism regulations.
1. IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations are flawed on a scientific level because it has not been proved that testosterone confers an advantage in competition.
2. IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations raise issues of consistencies on two levels: other molecular and genetic variations that confer an advantage in competition are not considered unfair; and there is no upper limit for testosterone in the male category.
3. IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations raise ethical issues at the level of implementation because the trigger for testing is visual perception and hence they pressure female athletes into conforming to stereotypical feminine standards.
4. IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations raise medical concerns because they unnecessarily medicalize a condition (hyperandrogenism) in female athletes with long-term side effects.
5. We need to be critical of the grounds on which the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has suspended the IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations on July 27, 2015, because CAS is buying into the IAAF flawed assumption that if there were a sufficient body of evidence to demonstrate a correlation between testosterone and competitive advantage, this would be unfair and would constitute grounds to reinstate the hyperandrogenism regulations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 293-301 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Clinics in Sports Medicine |
| Early online date | 26 Nov 2015 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2016 |
Keywords
- Ethics
- hyperandrogenism
- Dutee Chand
- Caster Semenya
- sport
- sport medicine