Sebastian Coe issues warning in transgender athlete debate that the 'future of women's sport is at risk'

One of Sheffield's most famous sport stars and a double-Olympic champion, Sebastian Coe, has said that the “integrity and future of women’s sport” is at risk, as he gave his thoughts on the transgender athlete debate.

His comments came after the American swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender woman to win an NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) swimming championship last week. The World Athletics president also issued a call to the International Olympics Committee to introduce new rules and regulations that should be applied across all sport, insisting that “gender cannot trump biology.”

The University of Pennsylvania student, Thomas, aged 22, made history last week as the first transgender woman to win an NCAA championship and in doing so has sparked a heated debate over the rights of trans athletes being able to compete.

Some critics of trans inclusion in women’s sport claim that trans women have an unfair competitive advantage, physiologically, despite strict requirements that require all trans athletes to take female hormones, testosterone blockers for a determined amount of time and also to be continually checked to ensure they maintain those required levels — as a means of ensuring fair competition across the board.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Coe said that, “There is no question to me that testosterone is the key determinant in performance.”

He also added that “gender cannot trump biology”, as he called for a lengthier time period for trans women to have to wait in order to compete in athletics after transitioning.

“If you look at the nature of 12– or 13-year-old girls, I remember my daughters would regularly outrun male counterparts in their class, but as soon as puberty kicks in that gap opens and it remains”

World Athletics currently requires all transgender athletes to have low testosterone levels for at least 12 months before competition.

Coe was also asked for his thoughts on how he would feel when athletics has its first transgender woman winning races.

He added that "These are sensitive issues, they are societal issues – they go way, way beyond sport. I don't have the luxury to get into endless discussions or the school of moral philosophy."

“You can’t be oblivious to public sentiment, of course not. But science is important. If I wasn’t satisfied with the science that we have and the experts that have been working on this for a long time, this would be a very different landscape. It is not something you can keep farming off onto the member federations.”