The Physical and Psychological Wellness of DSD and Transgender Athletes as Affected by Decisions to Allow or Restrict Competition

Abstract

The International Olympic Committee has recently acted with huge irony, having previously ruled that in fairness and openness, each Olympic sport should separately decide about inclusion of athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) and transgender athletes, in women's events. In March 2026. The IOC reversed itself by ruling completely against inclusion, which contradicts their own Olympic Creed: "The most The International Olympic Committee has recently acted with huge irony, having previously ruled that in fairness and openness, each Olympic sport should separately decide about inclusion of athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD) and transgender athletes, in women's events. In March 2026. The IOC reversed itself by ruling completely against inclusion, which contradicts their own Olympic Creed: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle." At the personal level, DSD and transgender athletes who already had huge challenges in life affecting personal and psychological wellness, had those wellness issues amplified by barriers to competing. This paper begins by defining DSD and transgender individuals wanting to compete as women, but having higher levels of testosterone than the average woman. To quantify the role of testosterone, physics and kinesiology were applied to running, swimming, speed skating and rowing, to show that the female/male velocity ratio of Olympic Champions from 1980 through 2020/21 was equal to the testosterone-driven relative lean-to-weight ratio of elite athletes. Recent and past DSD and transgender athletes are discussed. The ability of reducing testosterone level with wellness considerations is analyzed to bring DSD and transgender athletes closer to the upper range of normal female athletes using hormone therapy. Such reductions should be carried out protecting the physical and psychological wellness of athletes who were simply born that way, either physically or psychologically, and to whom fairness and compassion should apply.