Sexual evaluation of "female" athletes

Abstract

In this article prepared especially for The Journal of Sports Medicine, Professor Jules François, Director of the Division of Medical Genetics at the University of Ghent Ophthalmological Clinic, Belgium, and Professor M. Th. Matton-Van Leuven describe the cytogenetic meth ods used in sex typing of female athletes, together with a discussion of the moral, medical and athletic implications of sex typing as prac ticed today. Since the May 1967 ruling of the International Olympics Committee, sex determination tests have been required of all female athletes, in an attempt to prevent male athletes from competing as women. At present, determination of sex is accomplished by means of analysis of sex chromatin granules obtained from swabs of oral mucosa. In their pioneer study, "Male and Female Sex Determination in Hair Roots," which received international acclaim when published in 1971 (Clin Gen 2), Dr. François and Dr. Matton-Van Leuven re ported their clinical findings on a new, more effective method of sex determination, discussed here in this first original study of the total effect of sexual evaluation on the female athlete.