The International Olympic Committee (IOC) needs to improve rules on transgender and DSD (differences in sex development) athletes to “protect female sport”, says World Athletics president Lord Coe.
Britain’s two-time Olympic 1500m champion Coe, 68, is one of seven confirmed candidates hoping to succeed Thomas Bach as IOC president next March.
His comments come after Algeria’s Imane Khelif won women’s welterweight boxing gold at the Paris Games in the summer, a year after being disqualified from the World Championships for reportedly failing gender eligibility tests.
“I think the International Olympic Committee needs a very, very clear policy in this space,” Coe told BBC sports editor Dan Roan.
“And the protection of the female category, for me, is absolutely non-negotiable.
“If you are not prepared to do that, and that is where the international federations expect a lead to be taken, then you really will lose female sport and I’m not prepared to see that happen.
“I’m not sure that policy is clear enough at the moment.”
