Well said, Cate Campbell

Inclusion and fairness normally go hand in hand, Australian Olympic flag-bearer and four-time gold medallist Cate Campbell told swimming’s governing body, FINA, at its congress in Budapest. But one of the occasions in which those principles conflict, as the swimming star said in her memorable speech, is the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s elite sport. Campbell acknowledged that her words “may injure, infuriate and potentially alienate people from an already marginalised community”. But they were wise words. And FINA, after consulting doctors, scientists, ethicists and elite female athletes, made a wise, historic decision to ban transgender athletes from women’s elite swimming competitions. It will also create a new, open competition category in which trans athletes can compete. Because it is fair and sensible, FINA’s decision is likely to be a tipping point, setting a precedent for other sports.

Similar debates are unfolding in other sports. Cycling’s ruling body, the UCI, has announced it will introduce stricter guidelines from July 1 for transgender women participating in cycling competitions, halving the maximum allowable plasma testosterone limit and doubling the transition period from 12 to 24 months. Controversy over the issue flared in swimming when University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, who previously competed on the university’s men’s team, began competing as a woman and breaking records after undergoing hormone replacement therapy in 2019. Thomas’s stated goal is to compete at Olympic level.

As Campbell said, it cannot be disputed that men and women are physiologically different: “Women, who have fought long and hard to be included and seen as equals in sport, can only do so because of the gender category distinction. To remove that distinction would be to the detriment of female athletes everywhere.” US triple Olympic swim champion Nancy Hogshead-Makar said FINA’s move was a win for fairness. “This is not about being anti-trans or having some ill-will towards transgender,” she told The Australian. “It is about fairness for half of the world’s population. Swimming is one of the first major sports to push back against the trans-rights advocates who are trying to argue against biology.” Hogshead-Makar has campaigned for the protection of women’s sport with tennis great Martina Navratilova, a gay rights activist who has argued that if “everyone were included, women’s sports as we know them would cease to exist”.