New Zealand to apply new IOC gender policy with ‘respect and care’

SYDNEY – The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) on March 27 acknowledged the amount of work that went into developing the new Olympic policy on the protection of the female category in elite sport, and said it would apply it with “respect and care”.

The policy, unveiled by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on March 26, introduces gene testing, which will effectively bar transgender athletes and some with Differences of Sexual Development (DSD) from competing in the female class at the Games.

New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, who at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 became the first athlete to compete in a gender category different from that of their birth, would no longer be eligible.

“We recognise the extensive consultation and expert input that has informed this policy... to bring greater clarity, consistency and fairness to eligibility for the female category at the Olympic level,” NZOC chief executive Nicki Nicol said. “Our focus now is on understanding the policy fully and working carefully... to ensure any next steps are approached with clear understanding, respect and care.

“This is a complex and sensitive area that directly affects people, not just policy. We are committed to showing Manaaki (care) by supporting athletes’ well-being, privacy and dignity.”

The IOC’s working group, whose research underpinned the policy, found scientific evidence pointed to a male performance advantage in all sports and of more than 100 per cent in events that involve explosive power, such as weightlifting. Further, they found no “current evidence that testosterone suppression or gender-affirming hormone treatment eliminates this advantage”.

Opponents of the policy dispute the science, have concerns around the mental health of transgender athletes and the impact on athletes who discover they have a DSD only after taking the SRY test.

Australian LGBTQ sports rights group Pride Cup called on the country’s national sports federations, many of which are committed to inclusion for gender-diverse athletes, to reject the new policy.

“(It shifts) the focus of women’s sport to exclusion by proposing genetic testing and stricter eligibility rules that do nothing to improve conditions for women in sport,” it said in a statement.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), however, acknowledged the new policy and the “fairness and certainty” it gave to elite female athletes.

“This decision will be challenging for some athletes and (we) are mindful of their welfare and well-being,” said AOC president Ian Chesterman.

“We also acknowledge this decision does not apply to any grassroots or recreational sports programmes.”

The French National Olympic and Sports Committee said it had “major ethical and scientific concerns for all those affected” and that the SRY tests would be illegal in France under the nation’s strict bioethics law on genetic testing.

French athletes faced challenges conforming to similar requirements put in place by World Athletics ahead of the 2025 world championships but took the cheek-swab test outside France.

The IOC did not foresee a major problem with the legality issue as it said athletes “can lawfully be tested elsewhere”.

France’s sports minister Marina Ferrari, meanwhile, called the IOC’s decision a “step backwards”. She said: “These tests, introduced in 1967, were discontinued in 1999 due to strong reservations within the scientific community regarding their relevance.” REUTERS