Bit by bit, sport is moving in the right direction. The direction which deems fairness for its female athletes to be a priority.
It’s taken a while but tennis has decided to protect the female category.
That this, and the individuals who have come out to support tennis’ new policy, have attracted considerable backlash says much about where this debate is right now. Not everyone has caught up.
Last month, the governing body of women’s tennis, the WTA, announced it would be implementing mandatory sex testing for all players who want to compete in the female category.
This is far less drastic than it may initially sound - the testing involves merely a one-off cheek swab, with the players’ DNA then tested for the SRY gene, which is found on the Y chromosome and is typically involved in male sex development.
Tennis isn’t the first sport to introduce such a test - athletics has also introduced a cheek swab test for those who want to compete in the female category and there’s been calls for many, many more sports to follow suit.
The controversy that’s come with this introduction of sex testing continues to baffle me.
For some to argue that this cheek swab is invasive is a strange argument given it is, actually, not invasive in the slightest. And when you consider the benefits of introducing this testing, it seems an easy decision to go ahead with its introduction.
Yet the controversy has been significant, and that’s ramped-up even further this week when the women’s world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, spoke out in favour of the introduction of this test.
“It's very important to maintain fairness in our circuit,” the 28-year-old Belarusian said.
“It's obvious that, biologically, men are much stronger than women, so it wouldn't seem fair to me for a woman to compete against a biological man.
“I think it took them (he WTA) a while to make this decision and, yes, I support it.
“If you want to test us all, I will gladly do so, it's pretty fair, and let's keep it that way.”
Sabalenka’s comments seem, to me anyway, little more than common sense.
This testing is not, as some have tried to paint it, an anti-trans policy. Rather it’s a policy to ensure that only those who were born female can compete in the female category. Yes, this discussion has come to the fore in tennis due to the increasing prevalence of the trans debate within public life as a whole, but this policy has not been introduced with the primary reason of excluding trans women. Rather, it’s to ensure fairness for female players and I remain utterly perplexed as to the reason why quite so many people would be outraged by this.
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One of the main arguments against introducing this testing within tennis is that there isn’t any trans women competing at the elite level. So why, then, the critics of the testing are asking, introduce a test for a problem that doesn’t exist?
But this is a futile argument.
Yes, trans women competing in elite-level tennis currently isn’t an issue. But this doesn’t mean it’ll never be an issue. It seems madness to base an argument upon the fact that the WTA should wait until this becomes a real issue before introducing any rules. There’s plenty of rules in place that don’t affect players day-to-day. This isn’t a reason to abolish said rules.
And another argument against implementing this testing is that there’s other, more important fights for female players, and female athletes as a whole, to be having. Yes, this is true that there’s other causes in which female players should involve themselves. The fight for equality, the fight for equal prize money and the fight for equal standing within the sport are all extremely worthwhile battles to have. But the fact there are other pressing issues for female athletes is no reason to abandon the pursuit of fairness.
Multiple fights can be undertaken simultaneously and while some other observers may deem some of these other issues to be more pressing than introducing sex testing, it doesn’t mean abandoning the pursuit of fairness until all other battles are won is the right move. A sport should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, as the saying goes.
That Sabalenka has received such a backlash for speaking out in favour of this testing says much about where the debate about trans women in sport is. Nobody is advocating for the exclusion of trans women in sport, only for their exclusion in women’s sport. And this is nothing to do with these individuals being trans but entirely due to the advantages those born male hold over biological women. The evidence is overwhelming that the physical advantages of being born male are significant.
And so tennis has, unequivocally, done the right thing by introducing sex testing. It may not currently be a problem in elite tennis but this ruling will ensure it now, never will be and so the women’s game will remain fair. And that’s a good thing for every female player on the planet.
AND ANOTHER THING…
In the immediate aftermath of Josh Kerr’s hugely impressive victory in the men’s mile at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games last weekend, talk turned almost immediately (within the press pack at least) to the prospect of the Scot’s next mission being to break the world 1500m world record.
Having bettered the long-standing world mile record in astonishing fashion three weeks ago, the 28-year-old is certainly in the form to challenge the current 1500m mark of 3 minutes 26.00 seconds, set in 1998 by Hicham El Guerrouj. Breaking a second world record in what has already been a remarkable season would add yet further to Kerr’s claim to be one of the sport’s all-time greats.
It seems, however, that the Edinburgh man will, most likely, opt-out of a 1500m world record attempt this season and, instead, push it back until 2027.
It would, of course, have been a thrill to watch Kerr go for the record this season and, potentially, add another accolade to what’s been a unique season. But Kerr is nothing if not the ultimate professional and he’s smart enough to know that it’s a fine line between pushing your body to its limit and then pushing it over the edge. If a record attempt this season runs the risk of causing a niggle and, in turn, disrupting his winter then pushing it back until next year is the wisest move.
On the bright side, a delay to his attempt gives us something to look forward to on the track in 2027.
