London Marathon waits on report before transgender decision

London Marathon organisers will wait for reports from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Sport England before taking any future decisions on the categorisation of transgender runners.

The UK Supreme Court ruled last week the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

The ruling does not lead to any immediate change regarding eligibility in elite sport. Governing bodies are not now compelled to amend or reconsider their rules.

But the weight of the ruling is likely to influence policy-making over time, and may lead to more sports banning transgender women from competing in women’s categories.

The London Marathon does not allow transgender women to compete in elite, championship and ‘ good for age ‘ female races, in accordance with World Athletics guidelines introduced in 2023.

“The London Marathon has been very clear about protecting women’s rights, that’s women from birth, women as defined by the court, in terms of competition, good for age, championship, elite athletes”, said event director Hugh Brasher.

“We have to wait, as does everybody, for the detailed report to come out from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. It is said to be coming out in the summer and we will also wait for the report from Sport England as well.

” We don’t know what detail is going to come out]in the reports]. We obviously will meet what the law says – but there has to be that detail coming out of that Commission and out of Sport England.

“We are clear about what we have done and we are really clear about the competition element – anywhere where there is competition, and that includes good for age, has to be your biological birth sex”.

World Athletics president Lord Coe announced in March 2023 that transgender women would be banned from competing in the female category at international events.

Under the governing body’s previous rules, transgender athletes could compete in women’s events provided their testosterone levels remained below a certain level for a period of 12 months before competing.

“We delight in being both inclusive, but also protecting in competition the rights of women, which is incredibly important”, said Brasher. “Lord Coe and World Athletics have always led on that and we absolutely look to continue doing that”.