World record holder and Nigerian sprint hurdler, Tobi Amusan, will be among the female athletes required to undergo a mandatory genetic gender test under new World Athletics regulations set to take effect ahead of the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.
According to the updated eligibility guidelines released by the global governing body, all athletes competing in the female category must take a one-time genetic test starting from September 1, 2025, to confirm their biological sex.
The test will check for the presence of the SRY gene, typically found on the Y chromosome, and will be conducted using either a cheek swab or a blood sample.
World Athletics President, Sebastian Coe, defended the controversial policy during a media briefing, stating that the decision aims to preserve fairness in women’s sports.
“We are saying, at elite level, for you to compete in the female category, you have to be biologically female. It was always very clear to me and the World Athletics Council that gender cannot trump biology,” Coe said.
He noted that the regulation was supported by the organization’s Gender Diverse Athlete Working Group and serves to unify existing rules related to transgender athletes and those with Differences of Sex Development (DSD) under a single standard.
The announcement comes as Tobi Amusan, the reigning world champion and 100m hurdles world record holder, prepares to defend her national title at the Nigerian Championships in Lagos from August 1 to 3 — a key event leading up to the World Championships in Tokyo, scheduled to begin September 13.
Although the rule will not be implemented until 2025, the inclusion of high-profile athletes like Amusan in the forthcoming testing pool has sparked widespread debate about privacy, dignity, and the broader implications for women’s sports.
World Athletics expressed appreciation to national federations for their cooperation and underscored the importance of full compliance in safeguarding the integrity of female athletics competition.
