LAUSANNE, Switzerland, 18 May 2004 — The International Olympic Committee (IOC) have mapped out conditions for sex change athletes to compete in the Olympics, it was announced here yesterday.
Officials said that although it was rare to have a sex change athlete compete it was becoming more common.
“And it is something we had no rules and regulations for so we decided it was time to have some,” said IOC medical commission director Patrick Schamasch.
Three key rules were announced to allow such athletes to compete:
1 — All operations involving a sex change must be complete; 2 — The athletes had to have legal recognition of their assigned sex by all appropiate officials; 3 — There would be a two-year wait after the completion of hormonal treatment.
Schamasch said the new regulation come into effect immediately and will be in place for Athens.
Softball, Modern Pentathlon
and Baseball Safe
The Olympic future of softball, modern pentathlon and baseball is safe until 2012, Summer Games chiefs.
The International Olympic Committee said no sports would be excluded from the Games for the next eight years.
The trio of sports had faced expulsion at the IOC session in 2002, but were given a reprieve when members resisted a proposal to drop them all together.
