Editing International Olympic Committee (section)

=== Sex verification controversies ===
The IOC uses [[Sex verification in sports|sex verification]] to ensure participants compete only in events matching their sex.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Pastor|first=Aaren|date=2019|title=Unwarranted and Invasive Scrutiny: Caster Semenya, Sex-Gender Testing and the Production of Woman In 'Women's' Track and Field.|url=|journal=Feminist Review|volume=122|issue=1 |pages=1–15|doi=10.1177/0141778919849688|s2cid=204379565|via=SAGE Journals}}</ref> Verifying the sex of Olympic participants dates back to [[ancient Greece]], when [[Kallipateira]] attempted to break Greek law by dressing as a man to enter the arena as a trainer. After she was discovered, a policy was erected wherein trainers, just as athletes, were made to appear naked in order to better assure all were male.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rupert|first=James L.|date=2011|title=Genitals to genes: the history and biology of gender verification in the Olympics|url=|journal=Canadian Bulletin of Medical History|volume=28|issue=2|pages=339–365|doi=10.3138/cbmh.28.2.339|pmid=22164600|via=GALE ONEFILE|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In more recent history, sex verification has taken many forms<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Krieger|first1=Jörg|last2=Parks Pieper|first2=Lindsay|last3=Ritchie|first3=Ian|date=2019|title=Sex, drugs and science: the IOC's and IAAF's attempts to control fairness in sport|url=https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/sex-drugs-and-science-the-iocs-and-iaafs-attempts-to-control-fairness-in-sport(e0853d7a-89ec-4287-ba36-48c2749f0b9e).html|journal=Sport in Society|volume=22|issue=9|pages=1555–1573|doi=10.1080/17430437.2018.1435004|s2cid=148683831|via=Taylor & Francis Online|access-date=5 April 2024|archive-date=27 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727014644/https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/sex-drugs-and-science-the-iocs-and-iaafs-attempts-to-control-fair|url-status=live}}</ref> and been subject to dispute.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Parks Pieper|first=Lindsay|date=2018|title=First, they qualified for the Olympics. Then they had to prove their sex|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=|access-date=}}</ref> Before sex testing, Olympic officials relied on "nude parades"<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Pape|first=Madeleine|date=2019|title=Expertise and Non-Binary Bodies: Sex, Gender and the Case of Dutee Chand.|url=|journal=Body & Society|volume=25|issue=4|pages=3–28|doi=10.1177/1357034X19865940|s2cid=201403008|via=SAGE journals}}</ref> and doctor's notes.<ref name=":2" /> Successful [[Women's sports|women athletes]] perceived to be [[Masculinity|masculine]] were most likely to be inspected.<ref name=":2" /> In 1966, IOC implemented a compulsory sex verification process that took effect at the [[1968 Winter Olympics]] where a lottery system was used to determine who would be inspected with a [[Barr body]] test.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> The scientific community found fault with this policy. The use of the Barr body test was evaluated by fifteen geneticists who unanimously agreed it was scientifically invalid.<ref name=":1" /> By the 1970s this method was replaced with [[Polymerase chain reaction|PCR testing]], as well as evaluating factors such as brain anatomy and behavior.<ref name=":02" /> Following continued backlash against mandatory sex testing, the [[IOC Athletes' Commission|IOC's Athletes' Commission]]'s opposition ended of the practice in 1999.<ref name=":1" />

Although sex testing was no longer mandated, women who did not present as [[Femininity|feminine]] continued to be inspected based on suspicion. This started at [[2000 Summer Olympics]] and  remained in use until the [[2010 Winter Olympics]].<ref name=":1" /> By 2011 the IOC created a [[Hyperandrogenism]] Regulation, which aimed to standardise natural [[testosterone]] levels in women athletes.<ref name=":3" /> This transition in sex testing was to assure fairness within female events. This was due to the belief that higher testosterone levels increased athletic ability and gave unfair advantages to [[intersex]] and [[Transgender people in sports|transgender competitors]].<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":3" /> Any female athlete flagged for suspicion and whose testosterone surpassed regulation levels was prohibited from competing until medical treatment brought their hormone levels within standard levels.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":3" /> It has been argued by press,<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last=Burnett|first=Cora|date=2019|title=South African Newspapers' Constructions of the Caster Semenya Saga through Political Cartoons|url=|journal=South African Review of Sociology|volume=50|issue=2|pages=62–84|doi=10.1080/21528586.2019.1699440|s2cid=213623805|via=Taylor & Francis Online}}</ref> scholars,<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last1=Mahomed|first1=S|last2=Dhai|first2=A|date=2019|title=The Caster Semenya ordeal – prejudice, discrimination and racial bias|url=|journal=South African Medical Journal|volume=109|issue=8|pages=548–551|doi=10.7196/SAMJ.2019.v109i8.14152|doi-broken-date=10 November 2024|pmid=31456545|s2cid=201175909|via=SciELO South Africa|doi-access=free}}</ref> and politicians<ref name=":02" /> that some ethnicities are disproportionately impacted by this regulation and that the rule excludes too many.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" />

The most notable cases of bans testing results are: [[Maria José Martínez-Patiño]] (1985),<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Parks Pieper|first=Lindsay|date=2014|title=Sex Testing and the Maintenance of Western Femininity in International Sport|url=|journal=International Journal of the History of Sport|volume=31|issue=13|pages=1557–1576|doi=10.1080/09523367.2014.927184|s2cid=144448974|via=Taylor & Francis Online}}</ref> [[Santhi Soundarajan]] (2006),<ref name=":4" /> [[Caster Semenya]] (2009),<ref name=":02" /> [[Annet Negesa]] (2012),<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|last=Bruce|first=Kidd|date=2020|title=The IOC must rule out sex testing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics|work=Globe & Mail|url=|access-date=}}</ref> and [[Dutee Chand]] (2014).<ref name=":3" />

Before the [[2014 Asian Games]], Indian athlete [[Dutee Chand]] was banned from competing internationally having been found to be in violation of the Hyperandrogenism Regulation.<ref name=":3" /> Following the denial of her appeal by the [[Court of Arbitration for Sport]], the IOC suspended the policy for the [[2016 Summer Olympics]] and [[2018 Winter Olympics]].<ref name=":3" />