Worldwide sport governing our bodies ought to set their very own insurance policies on transgender athletes, says Worldwide Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons.
Italian Valentina Petrillo final week grew to become the primary overtly transgender athlete to win a medal at a worldwide Para-athletics occasion.
The 49-year-old, who was born with a visible impairment, was born male however transitioned in 2019.
She gained bronze within the T12 400m on the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris on Thursday and set a 200m private greatest in Sunday’s heats.
Beneath World Para Athletics’ guidelines, an individual who’s legally recognised as a girl is eligible to compete within the class their impairment qualifies them for.
Parsons mentioned the IPC is just not contemplating a ruling throughout all Paralympic sports activities.
“The definition of who’s eligible to compete in a feminine occasion or not is as much as every worldwide governing physique,” he informed BBC Sport.
In March World Athletics after which UK Athletics (UKA) banned transgender ladies from competing in feminine classes at worldwide and nationwide stage respectively.
UKA mentioned athletics ought to “stay an inclusive sport” however it’s “truthful” that athletes who’ve gone by male puberty ought to be excluded from the feminine class.
Parsons mentioned: “From an IPC perspective, we allowed particular person sports activities to make their guidelines by way of transgender. So these guidelines may be completely different from sport to sport.
“Some are coming with completely different positions on transgender, or with the factors to permit them or to not enable them, so I am not shocked by the repercussions of it.”
Some Para-sports equivalent to biking and rowing are run by the identical governing physique as their Olympic counterparts, however many are unbiased.
Final week the UCI, world biking’s governing physique, dominated that transgender ladies couldn’t compete in feminine occasions.
The UCI mentioned anybody who transitioned after male puberty might compete in a ‘males/open’ class.
There was criticism of Petrillo’s participation in Paris, however Parsons mentioned the IPC was conscious the problem of transgender athletes participating in top-level Para sport would come up sooner or later.
“We all the time knew it was not a matter of if; it is a matter of when,” he mentioned.
“Nevertheless, we’re monitoring what is going on on this planet of sport typically and new analysis, as a result of this can be a actuality of sport lately. Science must be the guideline.
“The transgender inhabitants is rising and they’re right here to remain. We now have to verify we give them sporting alternatives, but in addition defend feminine athletes.”
