Transgender women in sport: UCI to ‘re-open’ consultation around participation following Austin Killips win

Austin Killips won the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico on Sunday
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Austin Killips became the first transgender woman to win a UCI women’s stage race when, on Sunday 30 April, the American finished first at the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico.

While Killips was busy celebrating after what she called “a week of nonsense on the internet”, the debate surrounding the participation of transgender athletes in sport has been reignited with the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) saying they will “re-open consultation” and a debate to take an eventual decision will be held at its next meeting in August in Glasgow.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On Tuesday, the UCI had initially defended the rules and said in a statement: “The UCI acknowledges that transgender athletes may wish to compete in accordance with their gender identity.”

British Cycling is also considering banning transgender women from elite female competition. Last year, the body said transgender women were no longer able to compete at elite female events after the organisation suspended its policy and it is now considering pursuing a similar policy to British Triathlon which, last year, became the first British sport to establish a new ‘open’ category in which trangsender athletes could compete.

Currently, the UCI’s policity dictate that transgender women need to supress their testosterone levels to 2.5 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L) for a 24-month period prior to competing in female events.

Austin Killips (far right) won in New Mexico on SundayAustin Killips (far right) won in New Mexico on Sunday
Austin Killips (far right) won in New Mexico on Sunday

This rule was tightened up in 2022 with previous regulations indicating the levels needed to be set at 5 nmol/L for 12 months. The UCI’s current policy differs from other international governing bodies, including World Athletics and World Aquatics (formerly Fina) which have banned transgender women from competing in the female category at international events.

What’s been said?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The American three-time Olympian Inga Thompson spoke to BBC Sport and said that many fellow competitors have contacted her asking her to speak up.

Thompson said: “They’re mad, they’re angry. They’re asked to be nice and polite but can’t even look at Austin without having rage. They feel ‘we’ve trained out whole life to be here and we don’t have a fair shot at this.’ This is a policy issue that needs to be addressed. Nobody should be attacking transgender athletes.”

Thompson also added: “Austin Killips is competing absolutely within the rules, regulations and policy set forth by the International Cycling Union. With that said, policy is always revisited and it needs to be revisited because when this was put forth there wasn’t enough scientific evidence to show whether it was fair or not.”

The three-time Olympian voiced support for the new ‘open’ category but also questioned whether, ethically, testosterone supression should be used for athletes to compete in a category for which they would not otherwise qualify: “We shouldn’t be asking these athletes to do this,” she added. “If they want to compete, they should be able to, but not at the exclusion of women - and nobody’s speaking up for transgender men. What about a category for them?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“There are all sorts of classifications [in cycling]. It would be nothing to add another for the inclusion of transgender athletes.”

What has Austin Killips said?

In an interview with Cycling News, the recent Tour of the Gila winner said: “I’ve had a lot of productive conversations with people in person who have complicated feelings about it, people that I have raced with or developed relationships with over time. I found that there are productive conversations to be had.”

“I’m happy to talk with people who want to talk. If there is one thing I enjoy, it’s having conversations about ethics, and I’m here for dialogue. But dialogue doesn’t happen on the internet. One-on-one conversations are about building relationships and mutual understanding. There is a particular disposition that both parties need to adopt, and are willing to be critical, open, and truly see the humanity of the other.”

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.