Decent piece but I wish that the author had mentioned Dr Fond of Beetles useful Twitter thread that discusses CAIS (Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome) which goes beyond discussions of testosterone advantage.
What if we could identify a group of people who had no T? Not female typical T, not lowered to below typical female levels, but no T at all. We’d predict, if T is the only factor that confers sporting advantage, such people would be pretty damn poor at running. 6/
This group of people exists. XY genetic males with Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS) can produce T, but use not a single molecule of it. They are functionally T-zero. 7/
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The IOC logic (and that of invested parties) tells us that CAIS females are going to be the least competitive of all females. After all, non-CAIS females have at least some T that they can put to use. 9/
The frequency of CAIS in the general population is 1 in 20,000. The frequency of CAIS in female athlete cohorts is 1 in 420. CAIS is nearly 50 times more prevalent in female athletes than in female couch potatoes. This is a massive overrepresentation. 10/
CAIS females succeed as athletes way more often than non-CAIS females. How puzzling that the only thing the IOC asserts confers sporting advantage is functionally absent in these females with clear sporting advantage. 11/
Whatever underpins CAIS female sporting advantage, it is independent of functional T. Thus, the IOC position that T is the only factor influencing sporting advantage - and - the only action a male must take to “fairly” compete against females is to reduce T, is untenable. End/
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1070097483408248835.html
or the following original if you prefer to see comments and discussion:
twitter.com/FondOfBeetles/status/1070097483408248835