11 Completely Messed Up Facts About Sex Testing In Sports That Will Make You Go, "Why Are We Still Doing This?"

    Female athletes in the 60s were subjected to 'nude parades' to prove their gender. Content warning: mentions of self-harm.

    Kanksha Raina
    by Kanksha Raina

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Hormone testing has long been a source of controversy in sports. Female athletes are tested for hormonal and genetic 'defects' to ensure athletes do not have an ‘unfair advantage’ over one another. Not only is it misogynistic; it is also unfair.

    Athlete running in a track event, wearing a jersey with "South Africa" and name tag "Semenya."
    Cameron Spencer / Getty Images for World Athletics

    Athletes like Caster Semenya, Imane Khelif, and many more have been subjected to humiliating tests—all in the public eye—that supposedly determine their sex. The practice has been criticized time and again, as these tests are considered unscientific, unethical, exclusionary, and, of course, deeply intrusive.

    After being back in the news again last week, I decided to do a deep dive into why these tests exist in the first place, and what their impact has been. I found 11 facts that might make you cock your head to the side and go, "why?!"

    A note: the terms 'sex' and 'gender' have been used interchangeably to indicate that historically, efforts were made by institutions to prove that both were the same thing. Research has, time and again, told us that they are not. With this in mind, let's go.

    1. In 1946, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) officially began a 'femininity check' to rule out foul play in sports events.

    Person in a hooded coat sits on a folding chair beside an IAAF logo, which features a running figure
    ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP via Getty Images

    According to this 'femininity check', athletes were required to produce certificates that proved they were eligible to participate. This was done because there were a handful of cases of ace female athletes that were accused of being male (spoiler alert: they weren't male.)

    2. Dora Ratjen, a 1936 Olympic Gold winner, was incorrectly outed as a man, Heinrich Ratjen. But he later claimed that he was forced to compete as a woman by the Nazis in order to win more medals for Germany.

    Person with short hair, wearing a sleeveless top, looking directly at the camera
    ARCHIVIO GBB / Alamy Stock Photo

    Thanks to the burgeoning Cold War, rumors around countries sending men in place of women to win medals for their countries were rampant—which is why Ratjen's story gained prominence, years later. But documents released after Ratjen's death in 2008 showed that he was not a man— his gender was 'uncertain', which reduced his claim to mere conspiracy. Ratjen's gender was mixed from birth, and his parents had raised him as a girl.

    3. The first gender ‘frauds’ in international sport were identified as a British shot putter, and a Czechoslovakian runner.

    Two black-and-white portraits of men with distinctive hairstyles; on left, profile view with slicked hair, and on right, facing camera with voluminous hair
    Historic Collection / Alamy Stock Photo

    Two popular cases came up during this discourse: that of Mark Weston (born Mary Edith Louise Weston), and Zdenek Koubek (born Zdeňka) Koubková). Both were assigned female at birth, but eventually, they underwent gender reaffirming surgery and lived as males for the rest of their lives. While they were not impersonators, their decision to retire from sports in the 1930s and live as men prompted early discussions about sex verification in sports.

    4. The first 'scientific' sex tests, called 'nude parades', were introduced in 1966, where a panel of female doctors would examine the athletes' genitals and secondary sex characteristics.

    Headline reads: "Husky Women Athletes"

    Several athletes of the time have talked about how intrusive and humiliating these tests used to be. The worst part? Any female athlete who refused to undergo the test was automatically out of the competition. 

    These tests lasted two years, till the IAAF decided to go for less intrusive methods of testing one's gender (spoiler alert: that also didn't work.)

    5. From the late 1960s to the 1990s, female athletes were tested on the basis of genetics—and given femininity certificates.

    ID card titled "Gender Certificate" for Veronica Brenner, confirming eligibility for the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics
    Via The New York Times

    Any woman who competed in any sport in the Olympics had to carry this certificate—which looked like a card, that confirmed their 'gender'.

    6. A Spanish hurdler, Maria José Martínez Patiño, was the first athlete to formally protest the chromosome test, which was adopted after the sex tests of the 60s.

    ID card for María José Martínez from Spain, issued for the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, with photo and official signatures
    Via Lancet

    Known as the Barr Body test, it was administered to check if the athlete had male or female chromosomes. When Martínez Patiño's test came back abnormal, she was asked to retire.

    It was only after a detailed investigation that they found androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS), where she was genetically male (XY), but physiologically female. Her body couldn't use the testosterone, leaving her with lower levels than most women. She fought against the disqualification, and was eventually reinstated with all her titles intact.

    7. Princess Anne was excused from the gender test at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

    Person in equestrian gear sits on a horse, attended by two people. A British flag marks the horse's saddle area. Forested background visible
    Getty Images

    8. In 1992, the IAAF removed all forms of gender verification in favor of doping tests.

    Several small bottles with barcode labels, containing clear and yellow liquid, are arranged in rows
    Picture Alliance / dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

    Doping tests analyse the presence of certain drugs in the athlete's urine, blood, sweat, or saliva, that are deemed performance enhancers.

    9. A failed sex verification test drove Santhi Soundarajan, the first Indian athlete to undergo a sex verification test, to the verge of suicide—showcasing the devastating effect of these tests on female athletes.

    Athlete holding a silver medal and flowers, wearing a sports tracksuit with an Olympic logo, symbolizing achievement and celebration
    TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP via Getty Images

    The talented middle-distance runner was stripped off her medal in 2006. after her failed verification test. After this news became public, she faced immense scrutiny and public humiliation, to the point where she attempted suicide. In 2016, however, she was diagnosed with androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS), a condition much like Maria José Martínez Patiño's.

    10. In a landmark ruling, Indian sprinter Dutee Chand's case against the IAAF showed how flawed these hormone tests truly were.

    Athlete running on a track, wearing a sleeveless athletic uniform with a visible race bib number 296
    JEWEL SAMAD / AFP via Getty Images

    When sprinter Dutee Chand was expelled from international competitions thanks to a failed sex test, she reached out to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to fight. She challenged the IAAF's rules around elevated testosterone levels, which they believed gave female athletes an added advantage. The CAS eventually ruled in her favor, saying there was no sufficient evidence that high testosterone improved athletic performance, and Dutee was allowed to participate again.

    11. And finally: despite the supposed concerns about 'fairness' in sport, no case of males impersonating females has been identified.

    Surprised? Not me.

    If you have suicidal thoughts or know someone in distress, please reach out. You can speak to someone by calling AASRA’s 24x7 helpline at +91 98204 66726. Alternatively, you can call these numbers of other local helplines, emergency services, and mental health organisations.