“Transgenderism is false”: Michael Knowles reacts to World Athletics making gene test compulsory for eligibility in female sports

Podcaster Michael Knowles recently reacted to the news of World Athletics making gene tests compulsory for eligibility in female sports. In the August 2, 2025, episode of The Michael Knowles Show, he explained that the move, according to the governing body of track and field, was aimed at ensuring fair competition in women’s sports by verifying sex at the genetic level.

"It is now been determined by the World Athletic Championships that every woman who is to compete must first take a sex test. There must be a scientific test down to the genetic level actually to determine that the women are really women in order to compete…transgenderism is false," Knowles said.

Referring to the new rule passed by the governing body of the World Athletic Championships, Knowles acknowledged that many conservatives would likely celebrate the decision, viewing the compulsory gene test for women competing in the female category as a long-awaited victory for biological women in sports.

"Conservatives who are so happy with scraps from the table of liberalism. They’re going to celebrate this. They’re going to say, 'Yeah, this is a win for women and women’s sports and for reality and for the right. This is a win'," he explained.

However, Knowles made it clear that he did not share the enthusiasm of those celebrating the decision. He described the development as merely a "slight, tiny sliver of a win."

While he acknowledged that the rule might prevent biologically male athletes from participating in women’s sports, he argued that it came at a significant ideological cost. He pointed out that the policy required accepting the "transgender premise."

As per this premise, one had to accept that it was genuinely difficult to distinguish between men and women, and that men could convincingly appear to be women.

Michael Knowles further added that if he were running the World Athletic Championships, he would not require every woman who wanted to compete to take a genetic test. Rather, he would require only some of them to do so.

"The ones who look like chicks and who are obviously chicks, I would say you don’t have to take a genetic test. And the ones who look like men and who obviously are men or at the very least obviously have a clear genetic anomaly, they’re the ones who have to take the test because it’s not hard to tell...We all know which one’s a man and which one’s a woman," he said.

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What else do we know about World Athletics introducing gene tests for eligibility in female sports?

Previews - World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023 - Source: Getty

World Athletics introduced gene tests to determine eligibility for athletes competing in the female category at world-ranking competitions.

As per a BBC News report dated July 30, 2025, the governing body announced that the new rule would come into effect from September 1, 2025. The testing protocol would be overseen by member federations.

According to these new regulations, athletes competing in the female category at the World Athletics Championships, scheduled from September 13 to 21 in Tokyo, would be required to take a one-time gene test.

The test for the SRY gene would help determine biological sex and could be conducted via a cheek swab or blood sample.

As per the report, World Athletics had spent years debating eligibility criteria for women’s events, amid ongoing concerns about biological advantages for transgender athletes and those with differences of sex development (DSD).

The governing body of World Athletics, therefore, approved the introduction of the gene test in March to determine whether an athlete was biologically female.

The pre-clearance using the SRY gene test for female athletes was one of several recommendations passed at that month’s World Athletics Council meeting.

The presence of the SRY gene would indicate the Y chromosome, which is a marker of biological sex. A similar test was also approved by the World Boxing Organization in May when the organization introduced mandatory sex testing for all boxers.

According to a Guardian report dated July 30, 2025, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe emphasized that the gene test was important for maintaining fairness in women’s sports.

He argued that confirming biological sex was crucial to preserving equal opportunity. It ensured that female athletes could compete on a level playing field.

"It is really important in a sport that is permanently trying to attract more women that they enter a sport believing there is no biological glass ceiling…The test to confirm biological sex is a very important step in ensuring this is the case. We are saying, at elite level, for you to compete in the female category, you have to be biologically female," he explained.

He also reiterated that for the governing body, biological sex took precedence over gender identity in elite World Athletics competitions:

"It was always very clear to me and the World Athletics Council that gender cannot trump biology. We particularly want to thank our member federations for their support and commitment in the implementation of these new regulations," he said.

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Currently, World Athletics bans transgender women who have undergone male puberty from competing in women’s events. In addition, female athletes with differences of sex development (DSD) are required to medically reduce their naturally high testosterone levels to be eligible to compete.

Edited by Prem Deshpande