Is Costa Rica Prepared to Accept a Transgender Athlete Competing?

Following the great media case of Lia Thomas, transsexual swimmer and gold medalist in the last NCAA women’s swimming final, a sample of presidents of the more than 40 sports federations in our country were asked on the knowledge of processes to follow in case a transgender athlete decides to compete in Costa Rica.

The debate is seriously weighed down by the lack of clarity regarding the regulation and on the other the fear of some leaders to make decisions that are criticized from different ideologies.

It is also not entirely clear what are the abilities that make a person stand out in each sport; Winning in track and field is not the same as winning in soccer or archery. Each sport requires different skills.

Injustice or fairness? Are there regulations in force? How would they deal with them? These are some of the questions we asked the representatives of the sports federations.

Sports Federations Give Their Position

Ramón Cole, President Rugby Federation

Currently we do not have a regulation, we must make the Icoder make the consultation of the case.Globally there is no regulation as far as I know.What proceeds is to find out what the situation is and based on that see how it is handled.

This cannot be an opinion, it must be handled at the level of the board of directors, but I do not have expertise on the subject, I would have to see it with the board.There must be a state regulation otherwise there would be many opinions from everywhere.

Ángel Herrera, Secretary General Water Sports Federation

In the case of the swimmer Lia Thomas, it is a man who made a choice and is in the process of transgendering, in our case we consider that she is taking advantage of gaps in regulations, probably in one or two years the regulations will say what they should share in scenarios with equal physiological and psychological conditions, in this case she takes advantage of this situation and starts to compete with women, but physiologically she was a man and is in the process of transition.

Due to their original male build, women compete at a disadvantage, it should not be and they should quickly proceed to create regulations that trans people compete head-to-head with transgender people.

Marcos Brenes, Member of the Athletics Federation Board of Directors

If there are cases in the country, the truth is that we are not aware nor have we received any request.However, there is already an international regulation and we would base ourselves on what the World Athletics dictates, there is all the information on how to work it, the tests that are requested and a series of analyzes that the athlete would be asked, as well as identity with the Public Registry and at the medical level, among other things.There is already legislation and we would apply the same regulations.

Hugo Velasquez, President North American Federation of Powerlifting

We abide by the provisions of the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency.Male or female trans athletes are allowed, but they must meet the requirements and fill out the therapeutic registration form, there are a number of points to meet, for example, men, demonstrate surgeries, testosterone levels, etc.