Lausanne,
Switzerland — Transsexuals were cleared
yesterday to compete in the Olympics <http://www.olympic.org/>
for the first time.
Under a proposal approved
by the IOC executive board, athletes who have undergone
sex-change surgery will be eligible for the Olympics if
their new gender has been legally recognized and they
have gone through a minimum two-year period of
postoperative hormone therapy.
The decision, which
covers both male-to-female and female-to-male cases, goes
into effect starting with the Athens Olympics in
August.
The IOC had put off a
decision in February, saying more time was needed to
consider all the medical issues.
Some members had been
concerned whether male-to-female transsexuals would have
physical advantages competing against women.
Men have higher levels of
testosterone and greater muscle-to-fat ratio and heart
and lung capacity. However, doctors say, testosterone
levels and muscle mass drop after hormone therapy and
sex-change surgery.
One of the best known
cases of transsexuals in sports involves Renee Richards
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renee_Richards>,
formerly Richard Raskind, who played on the women's
tennis tour in the 1970s. In March, Australia's Mianne
Bagger <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mianne_Bagger>
became the first transsexual to play in a pro golf
tournament.
Richards, now a New York
ophthalmologist, was surprised by the IOC decision and
was against it. She said decisions on transsexuals should
be made individually.
"Basically, I
think they're making a wrong judgment here, although I
would have loved to have that judgment made in my case
in 1976," she said. "In some sports, the physical
superiority of men over women is very
significant."
