Controles de sexo, género, hormonales y la inelegibilidad de las mujeres con hiperandrogenismo en el deporte femenino de alto nivel

Abstract

Introduction: In 2014, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) suspended the Indian sprinter Dutee Chand from participating in national and international competitions in application of the "IAAF Regulations Governing Eligibility of Females with Hyperandrogenism to Compete in Women's Competition". Chand brought the case against the AFI and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). On July 24th, 2015 the CAS delivered the Interim Arbitral Award -CAS 2014/A/3759 2-. On the contrary, the CAS determined that the IAAF has not proved that the hyperandrogenism regulation fulfills its objective of maintaining fairness in women's competition. For these reasons, the CAS urges not only the IAAF and the International Federations, but also the scientific community to provide scientific evidence to prove that the IAAF hyperandrogenism regulation meets that objective. Objective: To verify the justification of regulation the eligibility of female athletes with hyperandrogenism by the IAAF, from the perspective of sports results in elite track and field. Material and methods: The results of the finals of all IAAF World Championships from 1983 to 2015 and all Olympic Games from 1984 to 2016 were analyzed in the study. In addition, 1 Diamond League event and 3 events of the Asian Athletics Association have also been selected. An exponential function was chosen, as it was one that best fitted the data, in accordance with the criterion of least square error. To study the goodness of fit of each exponential curve to the data, the coefficient of determination R2 was calculated, in combination with the statistical parameter F (Fisher’s test), as well as the statistical values of the student’s t test, with their corresponding p-values. In addition, for each curve the 95% confidence intervals were calculated. The percentage difference between male and female athletic performance for each one of the events was calculated. To study the athletic performance of some athletes who have been under investigation and temporarily suspended by the IAAF hyperandrogenism regulation, the characteristic curve has been calculated along with the corresponding 95% and 99% confidence intervals. Results: The difference found between males and females in athletic performance for sprints events is 8.23±1.02% - 11.76±2.12%; for middle and long distance events: 10.35±3.26% - 12.76±4.02%; for relay events: 9.75±2.93% - 13.14±2.98%; for jumps events: 14.21±2.17% - 25.04±4.36%. The difference found between athletes who have been suspended by the hyperandrogenism regulation and the other athletes, are in the range of 1.24% - 1.39% using the characteristic curve of the test and of 0.78% - 2.08% comparing their results with the second athlete classified in the event analyzed. Conclusions: The present study, via analysis of track and field results of all IAAF World Championships from 1983 to 2015 and all Olympic Games from 1984 to 2016, confirms that the percentage difference of 10% - 12% between male and female athletic performance accepted by CAS, can be established as a percentage indicating the minimum difference in athletic performance between elite track and field male and female athletes. On the contrary, the differences found in athletic performance between athletes who have been suspended by the hyperandrogenism regulation and the other athletes with respect to the characteristic curve do not reach the 3% mentioned in the Interim Arbitral Award by the CAS. Therefore, there is no justification for the ineligibility of women with hyperandrogenism based on an alleged competitive advantage similar to the male condition. Keywords: Track and Field, Athletic performance, Gender difference, Hyperandrogenism, IAAF, IOC, CAS