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Gender testing for women in the Olympics began in the 1960s after an athlete failed a chromosome test. Princess Anne is believed to be the only female Olympian exempt from testing. Gender testing is no longer mandatory, but can be requested if suspicions arise. Testing methods have varied over the years.
Gender observation and testing for women has been practiced at the Olympic Games since about the 1960s. The mandatory practice is believed to have begun after an athlete failed a gender chromosome test in 1966. The test is used to detect male athletes who posed as women to gain a competitive edge in games. Female athletes participating in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal also had to take a gender test. The one exception is believed to have been made for Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, who competed as a member of the UK equestrian team. Some argue that this may not be true since men and women compete against each other in equestrian games. The popular belief, however, is that Princess Anne was the only female Olympian to be exempt from gender testing when practice was mandatory. As of 1999, gender testing in the Olympics was not mandatory. However, if suspicions arise about a particular athlete, the International Olympic Committee may request a gender test. Gender testing in the Olympics has long been a controversial issue due to the lack of fully reliable testing methods. Testing methods have varied over the years with physical exams, chromosome tests, and hormone tests.
Read more about gender testing at the Olympics:
American athlete Helen Stephens was wrongfully accused of being male at the 1936 Olympics. The suspects disappeared after she passed a gender test.
German Dora Ratjen lost her gold medal in 1938 for posing as a woman at the Olympic Games. Her gender was found to have been misassigned at her birth and was raised as a female.
The sex reassignment of two female Olympians in the 1930s, Britain’s Mary Weston and Czechoslovakia Zdenek Koubkov, encouraged the gender-testing policy for Olympic participants.
