VOA新闻杂志2022--国际体育组织开始对变性运动员制定规则

International Sports Groups Start Making Rules on Transgender Athletes

International sports organizations are making or considering rules concerning competition by transgender athletes.

Last week, the international swimming group, FINA, announced a rule that would bar most transgender women from competing. The measure requires transgender people to have begun their transition² medically before the age of 12.

A transgender woman is a person who was born with male sex organs but identifies as female.

Some transgender people take medicine to lower their male or female hormones⁴. The hormones greatly affect how the body develops.

Follow the leader

After FINA announced its decision, other organizations followed.

The organizations that run field hockey, rugby, triathlon and cycling are making new rules or updating old ones.

FIFA, the international soccer organization, also said it is reexamining its rules on gender¹.

The International Olympic Committee, IOC, said late last week that it would not make a decision on the issue. An IOC spokesperson said that the organization "can't come forward with one rule, one short rule that fits everybody."

The group said such action is the responsibility of individual federations⁵ and individual sports.

A past Olympic policy permitted transgender women who had been on hormone³ therapy for at least 12 months to compete with women.

The group that runs track and field competitions, known as World Athletics⁶, is run by former Olympic gold medalist Sebastian Coe of Great Britain. Coe said World Athletics would examine its policies on transgender and intersex athletes by the end of 2022.

Champion runners affected⁷

If World Athletics follows the FINA rules, it could also keep runners Caster Semenya of South Africa and Christine Mboma of Namibia from competing. Both are top runners who race against women but have sex development differences that result in higher levels of testosterone than most women.

Ross Tucker is a researcher for World Rugby. By the end of the year, he said, "(World Athletics) will have announced a policy that is very similar to swimming ... and they will say that if ever a person has gone through male puberty and has obtained the advantages associated with testosterone, they can't compete in women's sports."

Tucker also noted⁸ that it is likely all of the sports groups will face legal challenges to their new rules. The court costs may prevent other smaller sports groups from making new policies that follow FINA.

Coe said FINA spent $1 million in legal costs to create the new rule. He said World Athletics also has money to deal with court cases, but smaller sports organizations may not.

Lia Thomas controversy⁹

The gender of an American swimmer was in the news during the recent college national championships. Lia Thomas is a transgender swimmer who attended the University of Pennsylvania. She started hormone therapy while in college, which means she entered male puberty and started to build muscle like a male. She competed in college swimming against men for three years.

Thomas won multiple events at the Ivy¹⁰ League women's championships in early 2022 and then won the national 500-yard race in March. Some swimmers were upset they lost to a swimmer who until recently competed as a man. Thomas said she wants to try to make the next Olympics, in Paris, in 2024.

USA Swimming has a policy that says swimmers competing in women's events must be able to show a low level of testosterone for at least 36 months. When the 2021-2022 school year started, Thomas had only been doing hormone therapy for about two years.

The NCAA, the organization that runs college sports in the U.S., did not have the USA Swimming policy in place this year. Thomas would not have been able to swim if it had.

When FINA made its announcement, USA Swimming said it will take time to understand the possible effects of the rule on its own policies.

Tucker, the rugby analyst¹¹, said the news surrounding Thomas seems to be the main reason for the new FINA policy. Before Thomas made the news and expressed an interest in the Olympics, there were few transgender athletes good enough to win events against top competition. He said people do not know how they feel about an issue until they are forced to deal with it directly.

"Lia Thomas made this real," he said.

Based on her recent times, Thomas would qualify¹² for the U.S. Olympic Trials, which are set for June 2024.

U.S. Olympic Committee plans statement

Olympic sports leaders met in Colorado last week on the 50th anniversary of the U.S. law known as Title IX. That law bans sex discrimination in any education program or activity that receives federal money.

Susan Lyons, a leader of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, USOPC, said it is not the group's job to set a transgender policy. But she said the organization should present a clear "point of view."

There are over 40 international sports organizations that will at some point need to make rules.

Lyons said no one is "begging" the USOPC to make a statement. "But on the other hand, we're the leaders of the Olympic movement in the U.S., so we have to have a point of view." She said it is not likely everyone will agree with the USOPC's opinion.

Also last week, President Joe Biden's administration proposed new rules that would protect lesbian, gay, transgender and queer¹³ students from discrimination under Title IX. Miguel Cardona, the head of the Department of Education, said "standing¹⁴ up for equal access and inclusion is as important as ever."

Words in This Story

transgender– n. a person who believes their true identity is the sex other than the one they were at birth

athlete– n. a person who is trained or good in sports

transition– n. a change from one state to another

hormone replacement¹⁵ therapy – n. the process of taking medication that reduces or increases the amount of a substance in the body that influences growth and development

medalist - adj. a person who receives a medal or award

intersex – adj. a way to describe a person whose sex organs are not traditionally male or female

obtain – v. to get or acquire

advantage – n. something that helps to make someone better

associate – v. to be connected with something

testosterone – n. a hormone produced in large amounts by men responsible for the development of male features such as facial hair, muscle and the ability to create sperm¹⁶

yard – n. the unit of measure equal to three feet or just less than one meter

point of view – n. a way of thinking about something

access – n. a way of getting to use or do something

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 transition   

n.转变，变迁，过渡

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood.青春期是童年与成年之间的过渡时期。
• They all support a peaceful transition.他们全部都支持和平过渡。

3 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

4 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

5 federations   

n.联邦( federation的名词复数 )；同盟；联盟；联合会

参考例句：

• These problems are women's special problems and special work of women's federations. 这样的问题，就是妇女的特殊问题，就是妇联的特殊工作。 来自互联网
• The Bridge Federate is a feasible solution to achieve multi-federations interconnection. 基于桥接成员实现多联邦互连是目前较为通用和可行的方法。 来自互联网

6 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

10 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 qualify   

vt.取得资格，有资格，限定，描述；vi.取得资格，有资格

参考例句：

• I won't qualify until next year.我明年才具备资格。
• You must qualify yourself for the post.你必须使自己具备担任这一工作的资格。

13 queer   

adj.奇怪的，异常的，不舒服的，眩晕的

参考例句：

• I heard some queer footsteps.我听到某种可疑的脚步声。
• She has been queer lately.她最近身体不舒服。

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

16 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。