DiscoverMaking ContactThe Problematic History of Gender Testing at the Olympics
The Problematic History of Gender Testing at the Olympics

The Problematic History of Gender Testing at the Olympics

Update: 2024-09-04
Share

Description

The attacks on Imane Khelif's gender at this year's 2024 Paris Olympics is not new. In fact, the focus on women's appearance and gender expression goes back to the founding of the Olympics, the minute women entered elite sports.

We talk to Rose Eveleth, host and producer of the podcast Tested about the history of sex testing in the Olympics and why it existed in the first place, why there's no easy way to classify the natural, biological variation that exists in human beings and why we might want to consider new ways of organizing athletes that is less sexist, racist and more accepting of genders outside of a simple binary.  

Featuring:

Rose Eveleth, host and producer of the podcast Tested 

Episode Credits:

Host: Salima Hamirani
Producers: Anita Johnson, Salima Hamirani, Amy Gastelum, and Lucy Kang
Executive Director: Jina Chung
Editor: Adwoa Gyimah-Brempong
Engineer: Jeff Emtman

Music:

Alpha Hydrae - Friends
Soft and Furious - So What
Axletree- The Silent Grove
Blear Moon - Further Discovery
Crowander - Opening Lines.  

Learn More: 

Tested on NPR
Tested on CBC

Comments 
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

The Problematic History of Gender Testing at the Olympics

The Problematic History of Gender Testing at the Olympics