New era for the transsexuals of the Olympics

Beginning with the Summer Olympics taking place in Rio this August, transgender athletes will no longer be required to have sex reassignment surgery to participate. The new rules, which mirror those currently followed by the NCAA, put no restrictions on women transitioning to men, and limit those on men transitioning to women.

For men transitioning to women, the athlete must declare her gender identity is female (and cannot change that declaration for at least four years) and must demonstrate her testosterone level has been below a determined threshold (10nmol/L) for a year prior to competition, and must remain below that threshold throughout the Games. The new rules also protect female athletes who have naturally elevated levels of testosterone. Transgender athletes were first allowed to participate in the Olympics in 2004, but athletes were required to change their sex both legally and anatomically to compete.