The governing body of skiing has approved a policy for gender eligibility in women’s events that involves gene testing. However, a decision on allowing certain Russian athletes to qualify with neutral status for the upcoming Winter Olympics has been postponed. The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) announced that it will collaborate with national team officials to implement the policy, which mirrors the approach taken by track and field’s World Athletics.
According to FIS, the policy hinges on the presence or absence of the SRY gene, a sex-determining gene found on the Y chromosome in humans. The extent to which athletes with the SRY gene have previously competed in women’s events in FIS disciplines like alpine and cross-country skiing, ski jumping, snowboarding, and freestyle skiing remains unclear.
Both FIS President Johan Eliasch and World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe, who competed in the International Olympic Committee election this year, pledged to safeguard the female category. Eliasch emphasized the importance of relying on scientific and biological facts to protect women’s sports, stating that the new policy is fundamental in upholding this commitment.
The International Olympic Committee, now under the leadership of its first female president Kirsty Coventry, a two-time Olympic champion swimmer from Zimbabwe, has initiated a working group of experts to address gender issues in sports. Some athletes in France and Norway, nations with strong winter sports traditions, face obstacles due to their countries’ laws prohibiting non-medical gene testing.
FIS has not released a schedule for implementing a testing program, with the upcoming Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Games set to commence on February 6. The council of FIS discussed the situation of Russian and Belarusian athletes following the military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which led to a ban on their participation in international competitions. The council is yet to decide on extending the ban or endorsing a neutral status policy for individual athletes before the next Olympics, with the next meeting scheduled for October 21.
The IOC has prohibited Russia and Belarus from team events at both the Summer and Winter Games. Olympic sports governing bodies have been advised to consider granting neutral status to athletes from these countries if they did not publicly support the war and are not affiliated with military or state security services.