Harmful anachronism: World Athletics reinstates gene testing to participate in women’s competitions

Silvia Camporesi; Shane M. Heffernan; Pascal Borry; Jensen Brehaut; Tim Cable; Jonathan Cooper; Luke Cox; Antoine Duval; Niall Fife; Sasha Gollish; Fergus M. Guppy; Blair R. Hamilton; Vanessa Heggie; Adam Herbert; Richard Holt; Jörg Krieger; Sigmund Loland; Fernanda Malinsky; Marcus Mazzucco; Mike J. McNamee; Jonathan Ospina-Betancurt; Madeleine Pape; Lyndsay P Pieper; María José Martínez Patiño; Roger Pielke; Yannis P. Pitsiladis; Francisco J. Sánchez; Jaime Schultz; Alexandra L. Shaw; Andrew Sinclair; Sarah Teetzel; Eric Vilain; Georgina K. Stebbings; Alun G. Williams

doi:10.1136/bjsports-2025-110787

Harmful anachronism: World Athletics reinstates gene testing to participate in women’s competitions

Silvia Camporesi^*
, Shane M. Heffernan
, Pascal Borry
, Jensen Brehaut
, Tim Cable
, Jonathan Cooper
, Luke Cox
, Antoine Duval
, Niall Fife
, Sasha Gollish
, Fergus M. Guppy
, Blair R. Hamilton
, Vanessa Heggie
, Adam Herbert
, Richard Holt
, Jörg Krieger
, Sigmund Loland
, Fernanda Malinsky
, Marcus Mazzucco
, Mike J. McNamee

Jonathan Ospina-Betancurt, Madeleine Pape, Lyndsay P Pieper, María José Martínez Patiño, Roger Pielke, Yannis P. Pitsiladis, Francisco J. Sánchez, Jaime Schultz, Alexandra L. Shaw, Andrew Sinclair, Sarah Teetzel, Eric Vilain, Georgina K. Stebbings, Alun G. Williams

^*Corresponding author for this work

Academy of Wellness and Human Development

Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial

1 Citation (Scopus)

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	497-499
Number of pages	3
Journal	British Journal of Sports Medicine
Volume	60
Issue number	7
Early online date	23 Mar 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2025-110787
Publication status	Published - Apr 2026

User-Defined Keywords

Ethics
Ethics, Medical
Female
Genetics
Women in sport

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10.1136/bjsports-2025-110787

Cite this

Camporesi, S., Heffernan, S. M., Borry, P., Brehaut, J., Cable, T., Cooper, J., Cox, L., Duval, A., Fife, N., Gollish, S., Guppy, F. M., Hamilton, B. R., Heggie, V., Herbert, A., Holt, R., Krieger, J., Loland, S., Malinsky, F., Mazzucco, M., ... Williams, A. G. (2026). Harmful anachronism: World Athletics reinstates gene testing to participate in women’s competitions. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 60(7), 497-499. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2025-110787

@article{0f429716daaa41b5917ebcf817daf692,

title = "Harmful anachronism: World Athletics reinstates gene testing to participate in women{\textquoteright}s competitions",

keywords = "Ethics, Ethics, Medical, Female, Genetics, Women in sport",

author = "Silvia Camporesi and Heffernan, \{Shane M.\} and Pascal Borry and Jensen Brehaut and Tim Cable and Jonathan Cooper and Luke Cox and Antoine Duval and Niall Fife and Sasha Gollish and Guppy, \{Fergus M.\} and Hamilton, \{Blair R.\} and Vanessa Heggie and Adam Herbert and Richard Holt and J{\"o}rg Krieger and Sigmund Loland and Fernanda Malinsky and Marcus Mazzucco and McNamee, \{Mike J.\} and Jonathan Ospina-Betancurt and Madeleine Pape and \{P Pieper\}, Lyndsay and \{Mart{\'i}nez Pati{\~n}o\}, \{Mar{\'i}a Jos{\'e}\} and Roger Pielke and Pitsiladis, \{Yannis P.\} and S{\'a}nchez, \{Francisco J.\} and Jaime Schultz and Shaw, \{Alexandra L.\} and Andrew Sinclair and Sarah Teetzel and Eric Vilain and Stebbings, \{Georgina K.\} and Williams, \{Alun G.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ Group.",

year = "2026",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1136/bjsports-2025-110787",

language = "English",

volume = "60",

pages = "497--499",

journal = "British Journal of Sports Medicine",

issn = "0306-3674",

publisher = "BMJ Publishing Group",

number = "7",

}

Camporesi, S, Heffernan, SM, Borry, P, Brehaut, J, Cable, T, Cooper, J, Cox, L, Duval, A, Fife, N, Gollish, S, Guppy, FM, Hamilton, BR, Heggie, V, Herbert, A, Holt, R, Krieger, J, Loland, S, Malinsky, F, Mazzucco, M, McNamee, MJ, Ospina-Betancurt, J, Pape, M, P Pieper, L, Martínez Patiño, MJ, Pielke, R, Pitsiladis, YP, Sánchez, FJ, Schultz, J, Shaw, AL, Sinclair, A, Teetzel, S, Vilain, E, Stebbings, GK & Williams, AG 2026, 'Harmful anachronism: World Athletics reinstates gene testing to participate in women’s competitions', British Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 60, no. 7, pp. 497-499. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2025-110787

TY - JOUR

T1 - Harmful anachronism

T2 - World Athletics reinstates gene testing to participate in women’s competitions

AU - Camporesi, Silvia

AU - Heffernan, Shane M.

AU - Borry, Pascal

AU - Brehaut, Jensen

AU - Cable, Tim

AU - Cooper, Jonathan

AU - Cox, Luke

AU - Duval, Antoine

AU - Fife, Niall

AU - Gollish, Sasha

AU - Guppy, Fergus M.

AU - Hamilton, Blair R.

AU - Heggie, Vanessa

AU - Herbert, Adam

AU - Holt, Richard

AU - Krieger, Jörg

AU - Loland, Sigmund

AU - Malinsky, Fernanda

AU - Mazzucco, Marcus

AU - McNamee, Mike J.

AU - Ospina-Betancurt, Jonathan

AU - Pape, Madeleine

AU - P Pieper, Lyndsay

AU - Martínez Patiño, María José

AU - Pielke, Roger

AU - Pitsiladis, Yannis P.

AU - Sánchez, Francisco J.

AU - Schultz, Jaime

AU - Shaw, Alexandra L.

AU - Sinclair, Andrew

AU - Teetzel, Sarah

AU - Vilain, Eric

AU - Stebbings, Georgina K.

AU - Williams, Alun G.

PY - 2026/4

Y1 - 2026/4

KW - Ethics

KW - Ethics, Medical

KW - Female

KW - Genetics

KW - Women in sport

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105034350082

UR - https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/60/7/497

U2 - 10.1136/bjsports-2025-110787

DO - 10.1136/bjsports-2025-110787

M3 - Editorial

C2 - 41781329

AN - SCOPUS:105034350082

SN - 0306-3674

VL - 60

SP - 497

EP - 499

JO - British Journal of Sports Medicine

JF - British Journal of Sports Medicine

IS - 7

ER -

Harmful anachronism: World Athletics reinstates gene testing to participate in women’s competitions

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