World record holder and Nigeria’s elite sprint hurdler, Tobi Amusan, has been named among the female athletes who will undergo a mandatory genetic gender verification test under newly introduced World Athletics regulations ahead of the 2025 World Championships scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan.
The global athletics body released an updated eligibility framework requiring all athletes competing in the women’s category at elite-level competitions to undergo a one-time genetic test designed to confirm their biological sex. This directive will take effect starting from September 1, 2025.
According to the statement, the test will specifically screen for the presence of the SRY (Sex-determining Region Y) gene, which is typically found on the Y chromosome and used to identify biological maleness. The procedure will be carried out through non-invasive methods such as cheek swabs or blood samples, with results expected to determine an athlete’s eligibility for the female category.
World Athletics President, Sebastian Coe, defended the policy during a press conference, emphasizing that it is not intended to discriminate, but rather to maintain fairness and a level playing field in competitive 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 stated firmly.
He further explained that this regulation was developed with input from the organization’s Gender Diverse Athlete Working Group and is designed to consolidate existing policies on transgender athletes as well as those with Differences of Sex Development (DSD) into a unified standard. The move aims to eliminate ambiguities and ensure consistent treatment for all female athletes regardless of individual circumstances.
This development comes at a crucial time for Tobi Amusan, the 2022 World Champion and current world record holder in the women’s 100m hurdles, who is set to compete at the Nigerian Championships in Lagos from August 1 to 3. The event will serve as a preparatory competition as she seeks to defend her national title before heading to the World Championships in Tokyo, which begin on September 13, 2025.
Though the new regulations are not yet in effect, the announcement and inclusion of high-profile athletes like Amusan in the preliminary testing group has sparked considerable debate. Critics have raised concerns about the ethical implications, especially regarding athlete privacy, human dignity, and potential stigmatization. Others question how the results will be handled and whether the tests will lead to disqualification or legal disputes.
World Athletics, however, expressed gratitude to national athletic federations for their cooperation and emphasized the need for universal compliance. The governing body stressed that this effort is aimed at protecting the integrity and credibility of female athletic competition on the global stage.