Sex Differences in Athletic Performance

The safety and fairness of allowing male athletes who experience sex-discordant gender identity and undergo gender affirming medical interventions to compete in female sports continues to be debated. Understanding of the biological differences between males and females in physical attributes that affect athletic performance is essential for the establishment of sporting policies. Innate sex-specific genetic and hormonal influences and the specific effects of altering sex steroid levels will be discussed. This will include consideration of reversible and irreversible changes to body size, muscle mass and fiber type, cardiac output, and metabolic function.