The International Olympic Committee will be modifying its rules and regulations regarding transgender athletes in order to support inclusiveness at the global sporting event.
The Tokyo Olympic Games has become the focus of much debate after the IOC officially backed weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, who was assigned male at birth, in her bid to represent New Zealand in the women's +87kg category
Laurel Hubbard, 43, was the first openly transgender woman to compete at the Games before bowing out of the competition on Monday, August 2, after she missed all of her snatch lift attempts.
It was the IOC's amendments to its qualifying guidelines in 2015 that paved the way for Hubbard's inclusion in the category.
In order to be eligible for a spot in the women's category, the athletes' testosterone levels are required to be under 10 nanomoles per liter for at least 12 months prior to their first competition.
The IOC is now hoping to update its 2015 ruling, with the committee's medical and science director, Dr. Richard Budgett, revealing that the organization is planning to introduce new guidelines.
Dr. Budgett said, per The Guardian: "I absolutely accept that things move on. At the time the 10 nanomoles per liter was set because we thought that was the lower level for men.
"We know now that they go down to seven and women can be higher as well. Agreeing on another number is almost impossible and possibly irrelevant. You can debate that endlessly."
He went on to say that the new framework will prioritize both fairness and inclusion, and also implied that individual sports will ultimately be responsible for eligibility criteria as opposed to imposing a "one-size-fits-all" ruling.
Dr. Budgett continued: "There is some research, but it depends on whether you are coming from the view of inclusion as the first priority or absolute fairness to the nth degree being the priority.
"If you don't want to take any risks at all that anyone might have an advantage, then you just stop everybody."
"If you are prepared to extrapolate from the evidence there is, and consider the fact there have been no openly transgender women at the top level until now, I think the threat to women's sport has probably been overstated," he added.
