The WSL announced this week that it will accept transgender athletes in its events, following Olympic guidelines and the criteria published by the ISA a few months ago, reported Stab and The Inertia.

Basically the criteria for an athlete who was born a man and wants to compete against women and vice versa is the following:

In the case of persons who were born male: “The surfer must satisfy the ISA Medical Commission's determination that the serum testosterone concentration has been less than 5 nmol/L continuously for a period of the previous 12 months and secondly that he meets other requirements reasonably established by the executive committee and/or the medical commission.”

The Inertia reported that Jessi Miley Dyer, WSL's chief sporting officer, said the WSL would not conduct testing but would instead ask athletes to do their own testing and present their case to the WSL.

According to Stab, the testosterone level in a normal man ranges from 10 to 35 and in women from 0,4 to 2,5.

The information shared sparked controversy in the surfing community, with professional Bethany Hamilton filming herself in a video on Instagram in which she expressed her disagreement with the decision, which she believes most women on the tour also disagree with.

Asked if this decision improves the sport and the level of hormones, she expressed that she believes the best solution is to have a separate league for each of the genders and ended by stating that if the rule remains, she will not compete in a WSL event again.

In Australia, a transgender woman has already won a surfing championship, the first time in history.

 

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A post shared by Bethany Hamilton (@bethanyhamilton)

ISA Transgender Policy Final Oct 2022 1 by DUKE He Scribd