Olympics 2024: DSD rules explained

The International Olympic Committee has introduced stricter restrictions on transgender athletes and those with DSD

Caster Semenya has battled against the newly-introduced DSD restrictions (Getty Images for World Athletics)

The Olympics have introduced stricter rules and regulations relating to athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) ahead of the Paris Games.

There have also been increased regulations for transgender athletes ahead of the Olympics, with many who have previously competed in international events, now unable to do so.

In Tokyo 2020, Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender athlete to compete as a different sex to the one she was born. The New Zealand weightlifter finished seventh in her category.

Lia Thomas’s plight to compete in college and national events in swimming has also been followed closely, with a number of high-profile sports women weighing in on the debate. But DSD is different to transgender, and so are the rules.

What is DSD?

DSD stands for differences of sexual development, which the NHS describes as a group of rare conditions involving genes, reproductive organs and hormones, including genitals, and says that “it means a person’s sex development is different to most other people’s.”

There are a number of different types, affecting both men and women, but it affects the reproductive organs, which may contain a mixture of male and female traits and for people with DSD it is something they have had since birth.

Caster Semenya is the highest-profile athlete with DSD (Getty Images for World Athletics)

What are the rules for someone competing with DSD?

In March 2023, the World Athletics Council voted to reduce the amount of testosterone permitted in the blood of athletes with DSD.

Following the ruling, in order to compete, athletes with DSD will have to reduce their blood testosterone level to below 2.5 nanomoles per litre. The previous limit had been five.

Athletes must also have a blood testosterone level below the new limit for two years before being allowed to compete in the female category of any track and field event. For those already competing, they would have to remain under the new threshold limit for six months before being allowed to compete again.

The previous restrictions had only been in place for distances between 400m and a mile.

Who are the DSD athletes?

Caster Semenya is the highest-profile DSD athlete and has refused to take the testosterone suppressors in order to compete. She has taken her case to the European Court of Human Rights on the basis of discrimination against athletes with her condition.

Semenya is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, and three-time world champion in the 800m.

Sebastian Coe, the head of World Athletics, said in March 2023 that 13 DSD athletes would be impacted by the new rules.