"Because of the performance gap that emerges at puberty between biological males as a group and biological females as a group, separate sex competition is necessary..."

"... for the attainment of these objectives. Without eligibility standards based on biological sex or sex-linked traits, we are very unlikely to see biological females in finals... and in sports and events involving collisions and projectiles, biological female athletes would be at greater risk of injury."

Says the new policy adopted by Fina, "the global regulator for swimming, diving and water polo," quoted in "Swimming chiefs ban trans athletes from women’s elite events/‘Open’ category to be created for swimmers whose gender identity is different than their birth sex" (London Times).

Sharron Davies, the British swimmer who won silver at the 1980 Olympics, welcomed the ruling. The 59-year-old says she has “paid a price” for backing inclusion for all in sport while arguing against transgender participation in women’s elite swimming... “I am over the moon. I couldn’t stop crying. Here’s a decision that finally backs the rights of women to have their own category saved for female athletes. It’s been a long, hard road and anyone who spoke up for women, pointed to the obvious science and how it plays out in sports like swimming, has been bullied and harassed. I hope this gives other sports the courage to do the right thing and empower women to speak up without feeling they’re going to be shot down in flames.”