After Years of Confusion, the Olympics Signal a Return to Biological Reality

The IOC is poised to announce new eligibility rules that finally ground women’s sport in biology.

Reality’s Last Stand is a reader-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paying subscriber or making a one-time or recurring donation to show your support.

About the Author

Dr. Colin Wright is an evolutionary biology PhD, Manhattan Institute Fellow, and CEO/Editor-in-Chief of Reality’s Last Stand. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Times, the New York Post, Newsweek, City Journal, Quillette, Queer Majority, and other major news outlets and scientific journals.

---

Somehow, the question of who should be eligible to compete in the women’s category has become one of the most hotly contested issues of our time. With growing frequency, men who identify as women—and also men with differences of sex development (DSD) who were incorrectly recorded female at birth—are entering female sporting events and winning medals. After repeated controversies, it appears that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is finally ready to take a stand: women’s sports are for women, defined biologically.

A brief look at recent Olympic history shows why this conclusion was inevitable. Laurel Hubbard, a New Zealand weightlifter who transitioned from male to female, competed in the women’s +87 kg category at Tokyo 2020. Although he did not medal, his participation marked a watershed moment in elite sport. Caster Semenya, a male athlete with a difference of sex development known as 5-alpha-reductase deficiency (5-ARD), won double Olympic gold in the women’s 800 meters (London 2012, Rio 2016). Semenya has XY chromosomes, functional testes, and male-range testosterone levels. At the Rio Games, the entire women’s 800 m podium—bronze, silver, and gold—was occupied by athletes with 5-ARD, all biologically male but competing under rules that, at the time, allowed them to do so.