CrossFit Rules Target Trans Athletes
In a harsh blow to transgender competitors, CrossFit Games will restrict athletes to competing based on their assigned sex at birth.
The CrossFit Games changed its eligibility policies to ban transgender athletes from competing in the category designated for their “gender assigned at birth.”
“All athletes are welcome to participate in CrossFit Games events,” the sport’s 2025 rulebook reads. “However, to maintain fairness and the integrity of the competition, athletes must compete in the division corresponding to their gender assigned at birth.”
The rulebook does not elaborate further and does not mention the words “trans” or “transgender.”
Based on the reference to “fairness,” the policy appears to be primarily targeted at transgender women to prevent them from competing in female-designated events.
Opponents of transgender participation often cite the physiological advantages that those who have undergone male puberty retain over cisgender females when making this argument.
The rulebook does not seem to address the participation of transgender men.
This could be potentially contradictory to the stated goal of “fairness,” as the new policy would force transgender men — even those taking hormone replacement therapy — to compete against women due to their assigned sex at birth.
The CrossFit rulebook contains no mention of the term “hormones” at any point, even though any athlete, regardless of sex or gender identity, can potentially gain an “unfair” advantage over other athletes by taking hormones.
While the CrossFit games rulebook notes that athletes have to be drug-tested (presumably for anabolic steroids) in order to compete and receive prize money, the rulebook does not establish guidelines for testosterone levels that would determine whether, for example, a transgender athlete who was born female would retain a competitive advantage over a cisgender athlete born female.
As first reported by OutSports, CrossFit previously allowed transgender women to compete as females following a 2018 announcement stating that competitors would be allowed to compete based on their gender identity.
With its recent change, CrossFit becomes the latest sports organization to ban transgender women from female-designated sports.
Chris Mosier expressed disappointment with CrossFit in an Instagram post.
“CrossFit’s new Gender Classification policy requires transgender athletes to compete according to the gender listed on their birth certificate,” wrote the transgender triathlete, duathlete, and racewalker. “Worse yet, it allows any athlete to make a private complaint about any other athlete to have their gender investigated…. With the political wave of anti-trans attacks, CrossFit jumped on the opportunity to go back to its old ways.”
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