Paula Radcliffe has weighed in on the debate of whether transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women’s sport. Speaking on BBC radio 4, the female marathon world record holder said that ‘different levels of transgender’ must be taken into consideration.
Radcliffe said that athletes who were born male have ‘certain advantages that women will not ever get’, with regards to traits such as height and strength.
This comes in the wake of the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) decision to insist that female athletes who have naturally high testosterone levels, such as South Africa’s Caster Semenya, take hormonal suppressants to reduce them.
Radcliffe said the rule was a ‘step towards making it fair’ for women racing against trans athletes. ‘You have to look at the advantages that athletes who transition after they’ve gone through male puberty have over athletes, which is why they’re bringing in the hormones to suppress the levels of testosterone,’ she said.
Radcliffe added that many of the issues surrounding the debate stem from the complexity of the subject – and the lack of consistency in addressing it.
‘In certain states in America, you compete based on what’s on your birth certificate; in others, it’s based on how you identify,’ she said. ‘And that is what I think people are saying is completely unfair.’
Another Olympian who’s commented on the issue is former British swimmer Sharon Davies. She tweeted that while she has ‘nothing against anyone who wishes to be transgender, she believes in order to protect women’s sport ‘those with a male sex advantage should not be able to compete’.
