Norwegian Athletes Face Challenges with
Photo: Paul S. Amundsen/NTB/TT

Norwegian Athletes Face Challenges with Gender Testing for World Championship

All women who want to compete in the World Championship in athletics in Tokyo must undergo a gender test. The Norwegian athletes must leave their samples abroad – the testing is illegal in Norway. We found out early in the process that this is actually not legal, says the national team doctor Ove Talsnes to NRK.

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The decision on the requirement for a sex test was announced by the international athletics federation World Athletics (WA) on July 30 – just over six weeks before the World Championship in Tokyo (13–21 September).

The tests were supposed to have been carried out before September 1, but the Norwegian female athletes seem to be allowed to submit their samples later than that because the testing is illegal in Norway.

WA (World Athletics) has created a system that makes it possible to test them in connection with the championship, says team doctor Ove Talsnes to NRK.

The TV channel asks if the athletes will be tested in Japan. Norway has its camp in Fukuoka.

It's WA that administers the testing. We have a little knowledge of how it works in practice. WA knows when Norway arrives, how they travel and when they are where they are. I assume WA will carry out the testing as stated, says Talsnes.

The French team has also had to go abroad after the sampling was stamped as illegal.

Sweden tested its World Championship-relevant athletes in connection with the Finnkampen in Stockholm at the end of August.

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AuthorTT News AgencyEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers
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