Cheek swab sex tests are set to be introduced in track and field as World Athletics moves to toughen rules to protect fairness in women’s sport.

The global body is consulting with athletes over its recommendations on rules affecting transgender and difference of sex development (DSD) athletes.

Proposed changes from the World Athletics council comes after scientific research showing male advantage exists even before puberty.

Previously toughened World Athletics rules introduced in March 2023 bar anyone who has undergone male puberty from the female category.

Now, further safeguards “to address the rights of female athletes” have been drawn up. An accompanying report to World Athletics’ announcement of a consultation with athletes includes recommendations for a “dignified, swift, non-invasive and accurate sex screening method (such as a cheek swab) or, where necessary for exceptional reasons, genetic testing”.

World Athletics wants to further improve its policy because of “new evidence which clarifies there is already an athletically significant performance gap before the onset of puberty”.

The new proposals will effectively treat both transgender and DSD athletes the same, with all athletes wishing to continue – or start – competing in the elite female category required to prove they are biologically female through a cheek swab.

The test, which athletes would only need to take once in their careers, would look for the SRY gene, which is almost always on the male Y chromosome and is used as a highly accurate proxy for biological sex.

A dry spot blood test could also be used to determine an athlete’s testosterone levels, in addition to the presence of the SRY gene. The proposals have been developed by a working group on gender diverse athletes, with the consultation period beginning on Monday and continuing until March 5.

A World Athletics Council meeting later in March is expected to set out when the new regulations could be introduced. The current rules for DSD athletes require them to reduce their testosterone levels below 2.5 nmol/L for at least six months to compete in any female category event internationally. Previously the requirement to lower testosterone had only applied to athletes competing at distances between 400 metres and one mile.

The consultation will only seek athletes’ views on the impact of the changes. Alternative policy suggestions are not being sought as part of the consultation and it is understood it is only a question of when – rather than if – the new regulations come into force.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has made the protection of the female category a key pillar of his manifesto to be elected president of the International Olympic Committee next month.

Coe said on Monday: “While our current eligibility regulations for DSD and transgender athletes are robust and based on the science available at the time of our last consultation, several scientific developments in this field have emerged since then and it is our role, as the global governing body for athletics, to ensure that our guidelines keep up with the latest information available to maintain a fair and level playing field in the female category.

“Preserving the integrity of competition in the female category is a fundamental principle of the sport of athletics and we look forward to this collaborative consultation process with our key stakeholders in this area.”

Coe has previously spoken about how the women’s boxing tournament at last summer’s Olympic Games, where two athletes won gold despite being disqualified from the 2023 World Championships for allegedly failing to meet gender eligibility criteria, left him feeling “uncomfortable”.

Last week, Coe replied on X to a post setting out the content of an executive order from US president Donald Trump aimed at banning transgender athletes from women’s sports.

“Preserving the integrity of competition in the female category is a fundamental principle of the sport of athletics and as we know everything starts in schools. Establishing clear, unambiguous policies is a critical first step,” Coe said.

The announcement came as the International Olympic Committee learnt it was facing legal action for refusing to ban Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting from the women’s boxing competition at last summer’s Olympics.

After Trump’s “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order last week, the International Boxing Association said it would file an official complaint with the attorney generals of Switzerland, France and the United States about the IOC’s handling of the gender eligibility row that engulfed Paris 2024.