The International Powerlifting Federation has tightened its transgender policy after a 40-year-old male-born lifter broke multiple women’s records at a meet this month in Canada.
The Luxembourg-based federation, the world governing body for powerlifting, released an updated transgender policy that requires male-born athletes to keep their testosterone in serum below 2.4 nmol/L for at least a year before competing in the women’s category.
Athletes also must “declare before competing” that they are transgender, show a valid passport that identifies them as female, and keep their gender identity for a minimum of four years.
“To avoid discrimination, if not eligible for female competition, the lifter is eligible to compete in [the] male category,” said the document posted online.
The policy dated Monday came amid an uproar over Anne Andres, a 40-year-old transgender Canadian who destroyed the competition at an Aug. 10-13 regional women’s masters’ championship in Brandon, Manitoba, outlifting the second-place finisher by 463 pounds in three combined lifts.
The Canadian Powerlifting Union lets athletes compete in the women’s category based on gender self-identification without hormone suppression or disclosure of their trans identity, but the IPF made it clear that national federations are expected to follow international rules.
“If a NF [national federation] or RF [regional federation] allows transgender athletes to compete they must follow the IPF transgender policy,” the IPF said. “Failure to do so, the IPF Executive Committee will suspend the [federation] until the policy is followed.”
Canadian powerlifter April Hutchinson, a staunch critic of the CPU’s transgender rules, said the international federation’s updated policy heralds a “monumental and important day in women’s sports.”
“IPF, you guys walked the walk, you just didn’t talk the talk,” Hutchinson said in a video post. “You put a policy in place to protect and not discriminate against women. So we thank you for that. Enjoy your day. Honestly, this policy change means more to me than any gold medal I could earn.”
Meanwhile, Andres blasted the policy change, saying, “This means all trans people must prove their trans-ness to be able to compete.”
Andres set Canadian women’s masters’ records in three lifts — the squat, bench and deadlift — at the CPU Western Canadian championships. Andres also set unofficial women’s masters’ world records for the deadlift and total weight lifted, according to Fitness Volt.
Breaking: Powerlifting’s Lia Thomas moment
International Powerlifting Federation @ IPF_tweet now requires all Federations like the Canadian Powerlifting Union to adopt it’s stricter guidelines for males competing in the women’s category or risk suspension
This is a great first… https://t.co/ibu0hYZy77</ p>— ICONS (@icons_women) August 22, 2023
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports called the rule change “powerlifting’s Lia Thomas moment,” referring to the transgender collegiate swimmer who spurred a backlash against male-born athletes in women’s sports.
World Athletics, World Aquatics, the International Cycling Union, the International Weightlifting Federation and others have enacted stricter eligibility rules for women’s sports since Thomas last year became the first male-born athlete to win an NCAA Division I women’s title.
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