Gender testing returns to track, stirring up harsh memories and doubts that date to the 1980s

TOKYO (AP) — The woman whose genetic test in the 1980s led sports leaders to conclude it was too intrusive, not definitive enough and, ultimately, not worth keeping, said she was faced with “a sadness that I could not share” after results from that test upended her life.

The man who discovered the gene that led to that test being developed called it “surprising that, 25 years later, there is a misguided effort to bring the test back.”

In a recent major policy overhaul, World Athletics brought back the test this year, requiring any athlete seeking to compete in the female category at world championships, which opened Saturday, to submit to the test by Sept. 1.

The federation portrays implementation of the SRY gene test, designed to detect a ‘Y’ chromosome found in males, as a common-sense approach to tackle an issue that has bedeviled and divided sports for decades. Federation president Seb Coe says the policy is tailored to foster the “protection and the promotion of the integrity of women’s sport.”

In a telling indicator of the lack of unanimity around the issue, athletes from France hit roadblocks in meeting the deadline because their country has banned that sort of screening for non-medical purposes. Most were forced to have the test conducted at foreign training sites on their way to Tokyo for the championships.

A day before the championships started, World Athletics said about 95% of female athletes set to compete in Tokyo had completed the test. Confidentiality rules make it difficult to determine who, if anyone, did not take the test, and if any of those who did have been ruled ineligible.