So I am in a unique situation here, though I don’t plan on joining the Olympics, but the chance is never zero amirite. I am AFAB but I identify as a man, and the recent name change of PCOS to PMOS made me pay attention to what PMOS actually is, and realised that I have a majority of the symptoms. The thing is, is that I tend to have body hair and it was never hard for me to put on any muscle.
Which made me wonder if I would even be allowed to join the Olympics at all, especially when there was a huge controversy of a woman who was born female, had female genitals, and was even considered a woman by a very conservative country, because allegedly she has XY chromosomes, and some people were outraged because it would give her “an unfair advantage”. Even though there was a male swimmer who had a alot of genetic advantages.
So I was wondering, given my unique situation, if I don’t put myself on HRT, would I be able to compete as either a man or a woman in the Olympics?
You’re thinking of Caster Semenya. She’s XX, she just happens to have unusually high testosterone levels.
If you aren’t taking testosterone… I have no idea, but I would imagine you could compete as whichever gender you wish.
You should ask your coach or Olympic committee sponsoring your entry not random internet strangers.
That would make sense if you were an actual athlete looking to compete in the Olympics, but that’s not the situation that OP is in.
I believe there’s specific criteria and tests published, you can probably look them up.
Personally, one of the reasons I don’t really care about all the arguments about who can compete in what category of olympic sport is that in most sports everyone at that level is some kind of high powered mutant. Yes they train a lot, but 99% of people could do the same and never be olympic level. To give a specific example, having Alpha-actinin 3 deficiency makes it impossible to become an elite level sprinter, but it isn’t considered a disease because 60% of the Caucasian population have it.
In some ways it would be more egalitarian to just let people take whatever drugs they want, instead of punishing people who use technology to make up for not winning the genetic lottery.
More accurate answer can probably be given only by the Olympics committee or trainers who specializes in training Olympic athletes.
Generally, if it has come with you naturally aka you haven’t taken any drugs to get this condition. Then it’s just a natural advantage and likely allowed.
Though whatever this single advantage is enough to become an Olympic level athlete is highly questionable. You can probably try local competitive scene, less competition, higher chance of sucess.
For an Olympic level of athlete. You’d need luck, yes genetic advantages, insane levels of work ethic and skill honed for years(since childhood) just to have a shot at getting funding for attempting to become one.
The average person, which we all here are, struggles with being consistent with just the most basic training routine for their own well-being.
