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Gene testing rule a big concern for trans athlete
The Straits Times
|August 05, 2025
Transgender and non-binary US distance runner Nikki Hiltz criticised World Athletics' plans to introduce gene testing for female athletes, saying the move would be a "slippery slope".
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EUGENE -
Hiltz was assigned female at birth and came out as transgender and non-binary in 2021, and uses they/them pronouns.
"Sex testing is a slippery slope," Hiltz said on Aug 2, after booking a place at September's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo by winning the women's 1,500m at the US trials in Oregon.
"Obviously, I'm gonna do it. I'm not gonna, like, protest it or anything. I just don't like the precedent that it sets," said the 30-year-old.
World Athletics has said its test - which is carried out using a cheek swab or blood test - is "extremely accurate", with false positives or negatives "extremely unlikely".
This story is from the August 05, 2025 edition of The Straits Times.
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