A study on four elite trans women has had three athletes drop out.. Joanna Harper .The International Olympic Committee (IOC) commissioned the longitudinal study to measure trans women’s performance and physical changes over time..University of Loughborough Professor and Lead Researcher Joanna Harper is left with only British cyclist Emily Bridges to study..READ MORE FALLEN AND CAN’T GET UP: Finland trans figure skater falls in opening ceremonies.The study tracks sporting performance, strength, and speed over time after transitioning and hormone therapy. Each athlete is benchmarked against the performances of female athletes..“Four athletes had signed up to the longitudinal study and three have dropped out,” Harper told The Times..The IOC funds the study to assess the fairness of trans women athletes (born male) competing in women’s sports with “reduced testosterone levels.”.The current IOC guidelines allow trans women to compete if their testosterone levels are below five nmol per litre for a year (men usually have 10 to 35 nmol/L, while a woman’s level is usually 0.5 to 2.4 nmol/L)..READ MORE Boxing creating a ‘transgender only’ category to protect female boxers.Bridges told ITV in November that “the reduction of testosterone creates a fair playing field.”.“The reduced testosterone has a direct effect on the main determinants of VO2max, red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, which drop to female levels within five months.”.Campaigners against trans women competing include British 1980 Olympic swimming silver medallist Sharron Davies, who believes that "going through male puberty provides a physical advantage to trans women that those born female can never have.”.Davies questions why the study should continue with only one athlete left..“The IOC is funding this study but, given that three of the four trans athletes who were taking part have now dropped out, what conclusions will be able to be drawn from it?” Davies told The Times.. Emily Bridges Cyclist .“Compared to the research already out there showing the permanent physical benefits obtained from a person going through male puberty, this will add little value to the data.”.Harper defends the study as it is the first of its kind. The trans women studies done were not longitudinal..“It is the first time a study of this kind has been undertaken and it will be a contribution to the research data. Somebody had to be the first. This is just the beginning,” said Harper..University of Manchester Developmental Biologist Professor Dr Emma Hilton also questioned the value of a study of one trans woman athlete. Hilton advises several sports on their transgender policies, including World Rugby..“One athlete is a case study, and while it’s useful data to have, we already have tens [if not more] case studies we can lean on to understand performance changes as transwomen suppress testosterone,” said Hilton..“It will take a decade or longer to have anything approaching a controlled timeline study in a cohort of athletes.”
