ABSTRACT
Sex segregation in elite sport is typically upheld by policies that assert the physical superiority of male athletes and the need to preserve an even playing field. In the process, policy makers have struggled over how to reconcile gender diverse athletes within a system that insists upon two mutually exclusive sex categories. Carol Bacchi’s (2009) ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ methodology offers valuable insight into the ways that governing bodies—specifically the International Olympic Committee and the International Association of Athletics Federations (now World Athletics)—problematize intersex and trans athletes in women’s sport. That is, the organizations’ policies, regulations, and consensus statements represent gender diverse athletes as the ‘problem’ that must be addressed, rather than a sport system that will not accommodate them. This representation elicits two significant effects. First, it suggests the physical inferiority of female athletes, which justifies and sustains their subordinate status in sport. Second, it stigmatizes and ultimately erases non-binary sport participation, which can have devastating consequences for athletes and non-athletes alike.
