When did gender testing of female olympic athletes begin?
The first mandatory sex test issued by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the world's track and field governing body, for woman athletes was in July 1950 in the month before the European Championships in Belgium. All athletes were tested in their own countries. Sex testing at the actual games began with the 1966 European Athletics Championships’ response to suspicion that several of the best women athletes from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were actually men. At the Olympics, testing was introduced in 1968. In some cases, these policies have led to athletes being coerced into undergoing unnecessary surgery such as female genital mutilation and sterilization. Subsequent reports have shown not only that the tests physically affected women athletes but also could cause psychological harm. The purpose behind "sex verification"—identifying athletes whose hormone levels are abnormal compared to others of their "purported" sex—causes sex identity crises, elicits demeaning reactions (publicly and privately), often suddenly isolates athletes socially, and leads to depression and sometimes suicide.
When did gender testing of female olympic athletes first begin?
1968
Sex verification in sports
Chromosome testing was introduced by the International Olympic Committee during the 1968 Summer Olympics. This tested for the Y-chromosome, and was designed to identify males potentially disguised as females. This method of testing was later abolished, as it was shown to be inconclusive in identifying maleness.
When did gender testing with chromosomes of female olympic athletes begin?
during the 1968 Summer Olympics
Sex verification in sports
Sex verification in sports
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex%20verification%20in%20sports
Sex testing at the actual games began with the 1966 European Athletics Championships’ response to suspicion that several of the best women athletes from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were actually men. At the Olympics, testing was introduced in 1968. Chromosome testing was introduced by the International Olympic Committee during the 1968 Summer Olympics.