A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE has challenged the prevailing theory that gender identity is the primary factor contributing to performance disparities in athletics. The study was conducted by Dr. John Armstrong of King's College London, Dr. Alice Sullivan of University College London and George M. Perry, an independent researcher from the United States.
The researchers used U.S. Social Security Administration data to examine given names, categorize participants according to their biological sex and determine the sex of non-binary athletes. The researchers then compared the race times of the non-binary athletes with those of their counterparts in 21 races found in the New York Road Runners database.
Contrary to gender identity theory, the research found no evidence that the gap between biological males and females diminishes for athletes who identify themselves as non-binary. (Related: Texas Senate approves BANS on sex change for minors, FTM athletes in women’s sports.)
"It is generally accepted that sports performance depends on a mixture of biological and social factors. According to gender-identity theory, gender identity is deemed more important than sex in determining outcomes in mass participation sports. However, our data did not support this theory," Armstrong said.
But the findings revealed a significant gap in race times among non-binary athletes based on their biological sex, mirroring the gap observed between biological males and females. Furthermore, when controlling for sex and age, non-binary athletes appeared to have slower race times compared to their peers.
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This study challenges the widely accepted notion that gender identity is the primary determinant of athletic performance disparities. In other words, claiming to be a girl does not alter the biological fact that an athlete is a boy.
"Given the lack of empirical evidence supporting gender identity theory, one should not assume by default that gender identity is a more powerful explanatory variable than sex. Being an objectively measurable binary variable, sex has considerable explanatory advantages over gender identity," the researchers concluded.
Netizens: Results of the study are "bloody obvious"
The findings sparked more controversy when Armstrong took the results to X. He wrote: "Gender identity is clearly important to many people, but nevertheless, sex matters."
Some X users deem the results "bloody obvious."
"How have we reached a point of science denial where this even needs to be said? It is staggering that there are people who think women would run just as fast, row just as powerfully, box just as hard as men if only we tried harder because sex is clearly irrelevant," an X user replied.
Armstrong still thinks their research is important despite the predictable results.
"Our results illustrate that if we want to understand the needs of gender non-conforming individuals, it is vital to control for biological sex as it is likely to play a significant role in any analysis. Both sex and gender identity should therefore both be considered useful explanatory variables in data collection," he explained.
